Thursday, January 08, 2026
Occultation of Antares, Australia, January 15, 2026
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| The eastern sky at 04:40 ACDST Thursday, January 15, as seen from Adelaide. The moon is about to occult the bright star Antares. The inset shows the telescopic view at the time. (click to embiggen). Click to embiggen | The eastern sky at at 05:18 AEDST Thursday, January 15,as seen from Sydney. The moon is about to occult the bright star Antares. The inset shows the telescopic view at the time. (click to embiggen). Click to embiggen | at 02:13 AWST Thursday, January 15, as seen from Perth. The moon is about to occult the bright star Antares. The inset shows the telescopic view at the time. (click to embiggen). Click to embiggen |
On Thursday, January 15, Antares, the brightest start in Scorpio, is occulted by the Moon as seen from the all of Australia. (see the table below for major cities). In Western Australia the occultation is seen in good circumstances, the east coast sees the occultation (or agraze) in twilight and the occultation end in daylight.
The occultation occurs with the moon above the eastern horizon when the sky is entering twilight for the Eastern and central states. Perth and Western Australia generally sees the occultation start low the south-eastern sky, and egress somewhat higher under dark conditions.
Disappearance and appearance times are given in the table below. Other locations will see the occultation at a similar time for cities at a similar latitude (eg Woomera is similar to Adelaide).
While the occultation is visible to the unaided eye, the sight will be better in binoculars or a small telescope. Set up ahead of time so that you can be sure everything is working well and you can watch the entire event comfortably. Antares will be clearly visible to the unaided eye near the Moon.
| Place | Disappears Bright Limb | Reappears Dark Limb | Sun rise |
| Adelaide ACDST | 04:41 | 05:41 | 06:48 |
| Brisbane AEST | graze around 04:25 | - | 05:08 |
| Canberra AEDST | 05:17 | 06:12 (daylight) | 06:06 |
| Darwin ACST | graze around 03:39 | - | 06:34 |
| Hobart AEDST | 05:25 | 6:31 (daylight) | 05:53 |
| Melbourne AEDST | 05:17 | 6:18 (daylight) | 06:16 |
| Perth AWST | 02:13 | 03:08 | 05:27 |
| Sydney AEDST | 05:19 | 06:08 (daylight) | 06:01 |
Labels: binocular, Moon, Occultation, unaided eye
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