Occultations of Stars and Planets
August 22nd 2010 10:35
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Jupiter`s moon IO traversing the surface of Jupiter
occultations occur frequently in space. Small objects like asteroids can cross a path of a star the moon and can be seen with the aid of a telescope.
The moon with the star Regulus rising over the moon`s limb
The purpose of an occultation can provide valuable data on the size speed and direction of an object by measuring the time it takes the object to cross another known object in space.
Jupiter rising from behind the moon Moon/Jupiter image courtesy of beckycoretti.com
The definition of an occultation is an occultation is an event that occurs when one object is hidden by another object that passes between it and the observer.
In the early-morning hours of Saturday August 21 2010, an 8.4-magnitude star near Aldebaran.
The star was occulted for up to 10 seconds by the large asteroid 16 Psyche.
Occultation path analysis can be found on the web this will tell the observer where and when a object will cross another.
Asteroid 16 Psyche is quite large with a diameter of 264kms
There are some interesting occultations that occur at regular intervals like seeing the planet Jupiter rising from behind the moon. Or seeing Jupiter`s moon IO traverse the planets surface.
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