The Occultation of Jupiter By the Moon: Feb. 18, 2013.

[Suzy]

There doesn't seem to be a thread on this yet (?) and seeing as it's just around the corner, thought I'd better hurry and get this up.
Wow, we have so much going on in the sky right now between comets, asteroids and occultations, what a busy month!

A spectacular occultation of Jupiter by the 8 day old gibbous moon. As the moon's dark limb moves towards them, the planet & moons will disappear & re-appear from the bright limb.

:lol: my Astronomy 2013 book tells us that this event is sure to generate UFO reports. :ship2: I've never seen one before and won't this time either because I'm not down south enough. :sadeyes: That's the event I've never seen, not the UFO.:P


Here is the map & info (http://www.lunar-occultations.com/iota/planets/0218jupiter.htm) where it'll be viewable.

If you've got the IceInSpace 2013 calender, there is a gorgeous pic of the occultation in 2005 taken by Dennis Simmons for February.
I've found a link of the pic here (http://www.vixenamerica.com/products/userimagepop.asp?imager=42&image=226), it's just spectacular!

Wishing you all clear skies and happy gazing! :astron:

[Astroman]

Hopefully the clouds stay away long enough for it to be seen..

[Sarge]

Thanks Suzy,

Ocultation to start 11.32 pm Melb time. Forecast is mostly clear, so I'll be set up and hoping.
But then again it is Melbourne, so if it's going to be cloudy anywhere - it will be Melb.

Clear skies

Rod
:D:D

[Steffen]

I'll just have to set my location to Hobart and watch it in Sky Safari… :shrug:

Cheers
Steffen.

[brian nordstrom]

:)Thanks Suzy , I knew it was happening but I like Steffan are a little to far north and watch the close conjunction instead , a shame as I have only seen one of these as well .
The dissaparences of jupiters moons happen so fast , as if someone has hit a switch , if you blink you will miss it .
Brian.

[Sarge]

Ocultation is due to start in Melb 1232 hrs UT, which is 2332 hrs local time (+10 + 1 hour DS). That would make is very low in the west and reappearance actually below the horizon at 0010, after moon set at 0002 hrs.
Just double checked it with Stellarium. Wound Stellarium forward to 18/2 and it is showing ocultation starting at @2110 local time with reappearance after 0020 below the horizon.
Either way, its going to be difficult to see, let alone record.
dissapointing.

Clear skies

Rod
:D:D

[astronobob]

Good thinking to put this 'Heads Up' whilst so much is going on Suzy But I cant reach it here either, in Sunny Se Qld, , now, hangon, didi I say ;)

[Forgey]

I'm heading off to get a clear view in the west overlooking the beach -time will tell.

[rustigsmed]

Hmmm thinking the smoke in Melbourne will end it with the low altitude ..

[Forgey]

Russell don't jinx it lol - Ill be at the top of Olivers Hlll

[Big Dave]

You must live around the corner from me, just checked out Olivers hill. Greg Walton and Alex Cherney will be there. I was going but way too much smoke at the moment....

[Forgey]

Yeah i got a txt from Greg and going to meet them there, will see how it is hopefull it will be gone by 11pm

[rustigsmed]

Hmmm I'm just around the corner too but would have to pick up my scope from mt Eliza .. I might see you there

[Big Dave]

Notice the tinge in the moon - smoke haze :(

[Forgey]

It will pass :) I beleive it will lol

[michaellxv]

Tonights occultation of the moon by cloud.
handheld, camera on auto. :mad2:
I hope someone gets to see the real thing.

[04Stefan07]

Just taken now with my Canon 350D 75-300mm lens.

[Rob_K]

I think there's some bad info there Rod. The first times you quote are right but 12:10am is before moonset tonight. Should be 5 degrees altitude. Stellarium is way off. :shrug:

Might all be academic anyway, depending how fast the incoming cloud bands move. Hoping for the best!

Cheers -

[noeyedeer]

if that's all we get Stefan, I like it. love the moon detail and Jupiter sitting out there.

[Chif]

This is awful. Just took a look outside and I can't see any clear patches at all :(. Clear skies the last few nights, whyyy couldn't it have just lasted one more day?!

[swannies1983]

Sat picture showing it to be clearing in the west. Fingers crossed we get a glimpse.

[Chif]

Ahh yes I just had a look. Might have to stay up after all ;)

[Suzy]

All the best guys, whoever can, go get it! :D

Looking forward to the pics & loving the updates- it's keeping us who can't witness it informed & part of the excitement! :thumbsup:

Probably just as well it wasn't visible here, nothing but heavy cloud and loads of rain *sigh*. :cloudy:

[chrisp9au]

Bushfire smoke turning the moon dark red, Jupiter not visible at all!
The smoke seems to be getting thicker by the minute!
According to the CFA website there are no fires close to us so I guess it must be from the fire in the Grampians.

Such is life as Ned would say!:(

Cheers :thumbsup:

Chris

[Nico13]

Yes much the same down towards Geelong.
I'm at work at the moment but been outside to have a look and yes drifting in and out of the smoke.
One second its there and then it's completely gone the next.

Would love to be at home with the gear set up but thats life I guess.
It's going to be a good one for those that get to see it so good luck guys and gals out there I've read the book so I'll also be waiting until the movie comes out.

[ozstockman]

It was not red just an hour ago and Jupiter was clearly visible. I remember it in the same colour during lunar eclipse and I thought may be that's what happening now :-)

[swannies1983]

Just was able to get a few quick snaps but cloud has rolled in to destroy the rest of the show.

[Hans Tucker]

Nah...Just the typical Melbourne weather ruining yet another event. I waited up for this..should have known better.

[michaellxv]

You were right. Much to my surprise enough of the clouds moved past just in time to see it.

[chrisp9au]

Managed to see it despite the smoke.
So different to star occultations when they just turn off like a light switch!
Always gives me a thrill to see movement up there!

Cheers :thumbsup:

Chris

[Astroman]

No luck here in Adelaide, only managed a shot or two earlier in the day, but nothing when the occultation happened, way too much cloud. Maybe next time....

[gaa_ian]

Between clouds we are getting great views of the close encounter up here in Gove NT :-)

[dimma]

Looked amazing here in Perth!

[purplebottles]

The Big planet is heading just below Lunar as it is getting low in the west viewed from Gulargambone NSW, just west of Siding Spring. We must be near and just outside the edge of the occultation zone. Still something nice to watch happening in the sky.

[Suzy]

Grahame Kelaher (username Grahame) has taken the most incredible pic of the occultation from Perth. If your on facebook go take a look- it'll be worth your while- I've just thrown it on the IceInSpace facebook page. It's sheer awesomeness!!! :eyepop:

[Dusk]

Clouds, trees, and smoke made this challenging but still got some good shots: http://imgur.com/a/61OZj#4

[Suzy_A]

Hmmm.... so today must be... ummmm... the 16th, so that means the Occ is on... Wednesday! OK, plenty of time.

So I better take the rubbish bin out. Funny, no one has taken their's out! Lazy beggars! (Glance up at the moon.)

OH CRAP!! IT's TONIGHT!!!

Race inside, grab the scope, still set up but cast aside in the middle of the lounge room from getting up at 2.30 am the other morning to have a look at some mythical asteroid. Grab the camera, head outside, the scope and camera seems very light - oh, the swarm of mozzies are almost lifting me off the ground. Bung the scope down, point it in the general direction. Here we go!

[Suzy]

Very nice Brayden :thumbsup:
I was having a lot of fun with your pics watching Jupiter disappear as I was speedily clicking on them.:D The closest thing I've come to watching an occultation :sadeyes:, alas I'm too far north :sadeyes:.

[Steffen]

The gaps between clouds where large at times, so I dragged the camera outside and had a crack at it. This is the closest approach I could see, after that came the neighbour's roof…

Cheers
Steffen

[lacad01]

Nice work Steffen, captured it pretty well :thumbsup:

[Suzy]

:lol::lol::lol: Too funny Suzy!
Have fun :thumbsup: Boy you just got it in the nick of time by the sounds. :eyepop:

[mithrandir]

I gave up from the back yard and went up to the top of my driveway. My version is a bit later than yours Steffen and is in another thread (http://www.iceinspace.com.au/forum/showpost.php?p=948086&postcount=8).

[azagil]

:shrug:I had my scope all set up and ready with the reducer on, seen some great sights of the 2 through the eyepiece as they merged closer.....Then as I went in to get the camera set up to photograph it.....I lost all seeing due to cloud and the on going fires im my area...... I only managed one shot which I hope to post tonight once home (at work now)

[Tinderboxsky]

We had good views here in southern Tassie. As others have commented, it is quite a sight to see the moon approach and then occult Jupiter and its moons.

I set up on the side of a country road not far from home that gave clear unobstructed views to the west. We had a clear warm night after a scorcher of a day. The moon was red from smoke haze and the seeing very turbulent.

I waited to see if I could view the re-emergence of Ganymede. At the scheduled time, the Moon was just starting to clip the tree line on the distant hills (approx 1 degree elevation). The seeing was probably too turbulent to see the moon even if it had commenced reappearing.

Interestingly whilst waiting, I was viewing Comet Lemon with 7X50 binoculars at about 11.30 pm when 2 satelites passed through field of view. They were approx 1 deg apart and one was following the other as they moved west to east. They were eventually lost in the haze toward the east.

Steve.

[Sarge]

Melbourne West.
2200 hrs - perfectly clear skies, with a very warm breeze. Camera set up on the tripod, took a few testers to get exposure and focus right.
By 2300 smoke haze getting quite thick rolling in from the west. Lovely red moon, but not much help for an ocultation.
2315 - thick cloud total wipeout. No moon - no ocultation.
:mad2:
Well it is Melbourne.
:shrug:

Clear not skies

Rod
:D:D

[dimma]

Tried to post a photo but can't figure it out :mad2::mad2::mad2::mad2:

[Rob_K]

Hi dimma. Scroll down from the reply box and hit the Manage Attachment button. That will open a form - select your image and click Upload. :thumbsup:

Anyway, here's one of my shots, taken from about 10km west of Newstead in central Victoria. There was a bright orange "Bushfire Moon" but conditions were better than in Castlemaine where the Moon was red and at times Jupiter had been disappearing from naked eye view!

The image is a mosaic of several images taken with a Celestron NexImage through a 4.5" f8 reflector.

Cheers -

[Suzy_A]

Hmmm... can I post a video of the occulatation? I did 600 or so photos and assembled some into a WMV file. Can I post that? It looks like I can only do JPG etc and otehr still images.

[Rob_K]

Upload it to YouTube and post a link Suzy. :thumbsup:

Cheers -

[Suzy_A]

Hi Everyone. I've done a quick and dirty AVI, but as the scope wasn't very well aligned (see my earlier post), the moon and Jupiter tends to jump and drift around a bit. Well, a lot then.

I'd like to do a good one - and that involves aligning each individual jpg. While the usual aligning software aligns - they also stacks the photos to make one individual final image - which is not what I want. I need to align the images to some reference point (eg, Jupiter at the centre of the image) and then save each individual image.

Does anyone know how to do this and what software will do it?