Thursday, October 29, 2015

Almost occultation of Aldebaran

Another miss for 23-Dec-2015. Occultation seen from Europe but not from Israel. This time I just took 4 different photos and put them together to demonstrate the fast movemet of the moon
Almost occultation of Aldebaran 23-Dec-2015
Almost occultation of Aldebaran 23-Dec-2015


It was very near, but no occultation from my place. After five days of rains I almost forgot from this event but as I looked at the moon I noticed a bright star so close to it. I knew there wont be an occultation from my place but I forgot that it will be that close.
So I took my camera (Canon SX50 HS) out and this is how it was 2030 (UTC) about 45' apart (from edge of moon). Taking both objects in one shot is not simple as the moon is about 10000 brighter. Aldebaran is in the lower left
Moon and Aldebaran 2015-10-29
Moon and Aldebaran 2015-10-29

About an hour later the moon gets nearer (The moon moves, Aldebaran is fixed) and as a bonus a bird fly in front of the moon) 

Moon and Aldebaran 2015-10-29
Moon and Aldebaran 2015-10-29
After another 45 minutes the moon is really close. So close that I can't see Aldebaran with the naked eyes anymore and needs binoculars. However the camera sees it perfectly and just 30 minutes more to the closest point.
Moon and Aldebaran 2015-10-29
Moon and Aldebaran 2015-10-29


As it turned out, a huge cloud came and rain again so no chance for more photos, so good night (0030 here) until the next chance...