Barring unfavorable weather, observers in portions of California, Mexico, and Central America can see an occultation of the star Upsilon Geminorum this Friday evening. The Moon's eastward orbit will carry it in front of the +4.1 magnitude star, causing it to disappear behind the Moon's dark limb and later reappear on its sunlit side.
Viewers in San Francisco and other locations on the edge of the occultation zone may alternately see Upsilon Geminorum disappear behind mountains and reappear in valleys on the Moon's northern edge.
The occultation should be visible in binoculars and unlike many astronomical events, it occurs at a relatively convenient time. The disappearance and reappearance times for the star for selected locations are as follows:
| Location | Disappears (PDT) |
Reappears (PDT) |
|---|---|---|
| Bakersfield | 21:40:26 | 21:53:00 |
| Los Angeles | 21:37:37 | 22:01:54 |
| San Bernardino | 21:43:29 | 21:58:02 |
| San Diego | 21:38:03 | 22:07:58 |
| San Jose | 21:35:50 | 21:44:17 |
| Santa Barbara | 21:32:05 | 22:02:34 |
Additional information on this event is available on the following web pages:
www.lunar-occultations.com/iota/bstar/0416zc1149.htm
www.lunar-occultations.com/iota/0415graze.htm
Copyright © 2005, Brian Webb. All rights reserved.