Date: 10/5/26 11:15 am From: Alan French via groups.io <adfrench...> Subject: [hmbirds] OT: Occultation of Jupiter Tomorrow Morning
Hi Folks,
The Moon will move in front of or occult Jupiter before dawn on Tuesday
morning, and the skies are supposed to be clear. The Moon will move in
front of Jupiter at ~4:26 AM EDT tomorrow morning and reappear along the
dark limb of the crescent Moon at ~5:27. With a modest spotting or
astronomical scope magnifying 50 to 60 times, you will see Jupiter as a
small disk and you can watch the Moon take a little over a minute to
move in front of Jupiter and, slightly over and hour later, emerge along
the dark limb. A spotting scope should also show the four Galilean moons
of Jupiter and they will also vanish behind the eastward moving Moon.
Jupiter will be 20 degrees above the eastern horizon at 5:20, the
crescent Moon nearby. Times will not vary significantly over the Capital
District region.
Below is a more detailed account. The first graphic, just before Europa
is occulted, is larger than the view at 50 or 60x to show the labels.
Tomorrow morning, Tuesday, October 6, before dawn, the Moon will pass in
front of, or occult, the planet Jupiter. According to Sky Safari, from
Schenectady the Moon will first move in front of Jupiter just after 4:26
AM EDT and will take just over a minute to cover the planet. Jupiter
will emerge, along the dark limb, just after 5:27 AM, and take just over
a minute to completely reappear. It will be a nice sight through any
modest astronomical telescope or spotting scope magnifying 50 to 60
times, and even binoculars will improve the view. Jupiter's four bight
Galilean moons are usually easy in any telescope, but the brightness of
the Moon and possible light scatter in your telescope may make them more
challenging. Ganymede and Io are easiest to spot, Callisto the most
difficult. Below are graphics showing Jupiter and the four moons just
before disappearance and Jupiter just after emergence. The occultation
is visible from southeastern Canada and most of the United States.
