[Launch Alert] Pleiades Occultations

Fri Feb 3 22:19:45 EST 2006

                             LAUNCH ALERT

			            Brian Webb
		         Ventura County, California
		         E-mail: kd6nrp at earthlink.net
	          Web Site: http://www.spacearchive.info

				            2006 February 3 (Friday) 19:15 PST
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                        PLEIADES OCCULTATIONS

Chances are you have noticed the faint, close grouping of stars known
as the Pleiades glittering in the winter sky. This Sunday night-Monday
morning (February 5-6), the first quarter Moon passes through the
Pleiades for observers on the West Coast and Hawaii.

Using a small telescope or binoculars, skywatchers can watch the Moon
eclipse (or, as astronomers call it, "occult" from Latin "to hide")
members of the star cluster. Whether the Moon occults a given star, as
well as the disappearance and reappearance times, varies depending on
location.

>From downtown Los Angeles, the stars Merope, Alcyone, Atlas, and
Pleione disappear at 00:16, 00:56, 01:30, and 01:36 PST (08:16, 08:56,
09:30, and 09:36 UTC), respectively. The reappearances of Merope and
Alcyone will be difficult to see due to the Moon's low elevation and
because they emerge on the Moon's daylight side. Pleione and Atlas
reappear after moonset.

For the disappearance and reappearance times of the brightest Pleiades
for other cities, use the following links:

www.lunar-occultations.com/iota/2006plnam/0206zc537.htm
www.lunar-occultations.com/iota/2006plnam/0206zc552.htm
www.lunar-occultations.com/iota/2006plnam/0206zc560.htm
www.lunar-occultations.com/iota/2006plnam/0206zc561.htm

Of particular interest is the gazing occultation of Electra. The Moon
will barely occult or graze the star within an extremely narrow zone
that runs through southern California. Suitably equipped observers
within the path may be able to alternately see the star disappear
behind mountains and shine through valleys on the Moon's north pole.

Occultation enthusiasts have identified northern Somis, California as
a prime location for observing the graze. The narrow path also passes
over Thousand Oaks, part of Los Angeles, and northern Orange County,
as well as other locations from south of Santa Maria to the southern
Imperial Valley.

Detailed maps, information about a planned expedition to northeastern
Orange County, and other information is available at
http://iota.jhuapl.edu/plds6feb.htm.

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