June 08, 2005

The Moon Occults Antares [QuickTime]
posted by sexyrobot 19 years ago
  • Man, I thought that was gonna be a scare page.
  • The Moon Occults Antares Yes. Yes, it does.
  • Sheer lunacy. Thankyou.
  • owwwwwwwwoooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo
  • supposed to be a wolf howling at the moon
  • I have no idea what I just saw.
  • Thanks. I missed the actual event because it was at 4 o'clock in the morning. (This is the one two weeks ago, right?) Wake me up for a grazing occultation, thank you. grover96: Two weeks ago, the moon passed in front of (occulted) the bright star Antares, in Scorpius. `Occultation' basically means a relatively big thing (eg the moon or an asteroid) eclipsing a small thing (eg a star). more information is available via IOTA.
  • Interesting. For those of us without astronomical leanings, is this a big deal?
  • I'll bet it's all just a stunt for Tom Cruise's new movie. This occu-whatchamacallit and Katie Holmes.
  • It happens several times a year, so it's not a huge deal. Still, there is some useful information you can get such as making minor corrections to orbit calculations. What's more interesting is a grazing lunar occultation. If you happen to be in just the right spot, lined up with the southern or northern limb of the moon and the star, you can watch the star blink in and out as mountain ranges pass in front of it. If you get a bunch of observers lined up to time when it blinks out and in, you can find out the shape of the mountains. Occultation timing (lunar and asteroidal) is one of the few areas left in astronomy where the observing work is best done by amateurs.
  • Hey, that's pretty cool, allusion. Thanks for answering my dumb question!
  • one of the few areas left in astronomy where the observing work is best done by amateurs That is amateurs allowed to stay up past their bedtimes.
  • Phone home...
  • Wheee!!!!!! Thanks for the explanation, allusion.
  • Wait a second. I'm not Guy Fawkes!!!!!!!!!! How did i become Guy Fawwkes!!!! I'm Freen. Dammit.
  • Much better.
  • Another sock puppet unveiled!
  • Naw, just roommates signing up for monkeyfilter. Figured it out. Was weird though.
  • hah, and those are your roommate's only 2 comments thus far.
  • Meet th Fawwkers?