Event driven astronomy
[2] A "conjunction" between the Moon and Jupiter.
[3] A crescent Moon sits near the Pleiades open cluster. An extended
exposure has over-exposed the crescent but allowed the camera to record
the cluster stars and the dim, earthshine lit portion of the Moon’s surface.
[4] A grazing lunar occultation of the planet Saturn imaged in March 2007
from the UK.November 2065 when Venus will appear to pass across the southern edge
of Jupiter.
The Moon and planets can also occult the background stars. Again, such
events are more commonly seen with the Moon than the planets although
occultations of bright stars may not be as common as you would think for a
body with such a large apparent diameter.
Lunar occultations of stars are fascinating to watch because the
star is effectively a point source of light and the Moon’s edge, bereft of
atmosphere, is sharp. Consequently, the star’s light extinguishes instantly
during occultation disappearance and reappears instantly at occultation
reappearance.As the Moon shows phases, occultations that happen when
the Moon’s between new and full occur with the star or planet disappearing
behind a dark lunar limb and reappearing from a bright one. When the
Moon’s between full and new, the reverse is true.
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