For the third time this year, bright red star Antares will be obscured or obscured by the stars. moon On Thursday, May 23.
The first incident occurred on January 8; It featured a thin, waning crescent in the morning twilight sky and was visible primarily over the western United States. Then, on March 5, the last quarter moon was covered. Antaresagain in the early morning hours, mostly favoring the southern and southeastern U.S.
This upcoming stellar eclipse will differ from the first two in that the moon will be nearly full and will occlude Antares during more favorable evening hours. As for the area of ​​visibility, anywhere south of the line from Ontario near London to Avalon, New Jersey will see Antares disappear behind the moon.
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Anywhere north of this line see the moon it floats just below the star – nearly skimming the edge of the moon for Philadelphia (at 9:50 p.m. EDT), a near miss for New York (at 9:55 p.m. EDT), and just a close call for New England.
For most of the central and western United States, the event will have occurred before darkness falls and the moon rises; When Antares first comes into view for these regions, it will be near the west (right) of the moon.
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Across the southeastern United States, Antares will slide behind the moon’s eastern (left) flank at evening twilight, but will emerge from behind the moon’s narrow, dark flank after dusk. SaultSt. Marie to San Antonio, the disappearance of Antares will occur before moonrise, but the star’s reappearance will be possible shortly after the moon appears above the east-southeastern horizon.
Other places that will see the Moon cross paths with Antares include Central America, the northern half of South America, and parts of west and central Africa.
In the table below, we provide a list of ten selected cities for when Antares will disappear and then reappear from behind the moon. If any time is left vacant, it is because the moon has not yet risen.
For a more comprehensive timetable (in Universal Time) covering 658 locations, including a map of the occultation area, go to:
http://www.lunar-occultations.com/iota/bstar/0524zc2366.htm Courtesy of International Occultation Timers Association (IOTA)
The bright moon will cause trouble
The moon will officially turn full in the late morning hours of Thursday, May 23, and the eclipse is scheduled to occur approximately 13 hours later. To a casual observer the Moon will still appear to be a “full moon” (100% bright), but in reality the moon will have a very narrow (less than one-half of a percent) band of darkness along the western (right) limb.
As with the previous two Antares occultations, this upcoming event will see the star emerge from behind the dark edge of the moon. But unlike the previous two encounters, where the moon was in a narrow crescent or half phase, our May Antares lunar interaction will feature a nearly full moon.
So, while you could easily see Antares coming back into view with just your eyes from behind the dark, unlit part of the moon in the previous two events, you’ll definitely need a telescope or a telescope for this upcoming event. at least a pair of binoculars due to the overwhelming brightness of the moon.
Beware of the weak comrade
The reappearance of Antares from behind the dark flank of the moon also means there is an opportunity to catch a glimpse of its smaller companion star. Inside Burnham’s Celestial Handbook, Volume 3 (Dover Publications, Inc. 1978), states: “Normally, when viewing conditions are good, (Antares’ companion) appears quite clearly in a 6-inch telescope as a small, sparkling emerald spark, almost drowning in the shadow of giant Antares’ ‘s bright red light.”
On: size This +5.4 star (known as Antares B) appears about 1/50 as bright as Antares itself and lies 2.7 arcseconds west of Antares. Therefore, during eclipses when Antares is about to reappear from behind the dark wing of the moon, Antares B appears firstFive seconds before Antares.
Antares B’s color is actually closer to bluish-white or white; The emerald green color is most likely an illusion, as it directly contrasts with the red color of Antares. But without Antares as a comparison, the true hue of its companion tends toward bluish or white.
Next time?
Occultations of Antares occur in a monthly series lasting at least several years. The current series started in North America in August 2023 and will end in Central Asia in August 2028. Unfortunately, the upcoming occultation of Antares will be the last in the current series to occur at night or dusk anywhere in the United States.
All remaining Antares occultations will occur either during daylight hours over North America or primarily in regions south of the equator. After 2028, the next series of Antares eclipses will not begin until March 2042.
Joe Rao is an instructor and visiting professor in New York Hayden Planetarium. writes about astronomy Natural History magazine, Farmer’s Almanac and other publications