The moon occults Aldebaran tonight (March 4)

[tim-from-pa]

This is not exactly the science section but close enough. Aldebaran is the brightest star in Taurus the Bull, so we get a treat tonight when then moon passes in front of it blocking out a major star like that. I hope it's clear here tonight about 11:00 PM.

http://earthsky.org/tonight/waxing-moon-near-the-bright-star-aldebaran

 

[Papa Zoom]

Well God is The Great Tech of all techs! Interesting stuff!

 

[tim-from-pa]

Given clear skies, all one needed for this were binoculars and a knowledge of a few common constellations. This was an astronomy 101 event anyone could participate in. The moon was half full (1st quarter) and occulted Aldebaran on the dark side. Geometrically, at this distance a star is virtually a point of light, so once the dark side of the moon occulted it, the star literally blinked out instantly (but you could not see much of the dark moon surface) It was if someone turned off a light switch -- seeing a star there one minute and gone the next. About 20 minutes later when reappearing, it took longer to see it because it emerged on the bright side of the moon. This floods the atmosphere with glare so it was harder to see the star in a similar manner that at dawn or dusk there's enough light to block out the dimmer stars. It was worth staying up to see. I was fortunate in that I have a western facing window so I did not have to brave the cold night outdoors. The window does not cut the light intensity significantly enough. I could see it all with binoculars.