Sunday, February 19, 2006
Occultation of Antares
On the Morning of Wednesday Feb 22 the Bright Red Star Antares will be Occulted in Australia, Indonesia and Malaysia. In Australia, Western Australians will have the best view, seeing the entire occultation. From Perth, Antares disappears behind the bright limb at 3:15 am local time, and reappears from the dark limb at 4:21 am. People in the central states will see Antares disappear behind the bright limb shortly before civil twilight (6:15 ACDST in Adelaide), but Antares reemerges after sunrise. In the eastern states Antares encounters the Moon on or around sunrise, but Antares and the Moon will be attractively close in the morning twilight.
The Moon will be around six handspans above the eastern horizon, and readily visible in the early morning. Begin observations at least 30 minutes before the occultation time to familiarise yourself with the sky around the Moon and locate Antares. People in the central states will probably require binoculars or a small telescope to see the occultation. In WA, it should be visible to the unaided eye, but it will look better in binoculars or a telescope.
In Indonesia and Malaysia, the full occultation will be visible. See this page for local city timings in Universal Time.
# posted by Ian Musgrave @ 11:31 pm 
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