Occultation of Saturn by the Moon 14 May, 2014

On the evening of Wednesday 14 May Saturn is occulted by the Moon as seen from the most of Australia (and all of New Zealand). This is the second of these rare occultations, and is under reasonable dark skies, rather than daylight like last time.

The Moon is a very obvious signpost where look and Saturn will be the brightest object near the Moon. Start watching about half an hour before hand to get set up and familiar with the sky.

Although this event is easily seen with the unaided eye, it is best seen in a small telescope so you can see the ringed world in detail as it vanishes behind the Moon. Saturn’s moon Titan will be occulted before Saturn, so you can see the Moon occult a moon.

The occultation occurs in the early evening with the Moon will be reasonably high above the north east horizon, a good time to show the kids this event. The Moon easily visible and a ready signpost to Saturn. It is advisable to set up and practise on the Moon a day or so before the event, so you are familar with your telescope set-up.

Set up at least half an hour ahead of time so that you can be sure everything is working well and you can watch the entire event comfortably (trying to focus your telescope on Saturn moments before the occultation will cause a lot of unnecessary stress). Saturn will be clearly visible in a telescope or binoculars near the Moon.

More cities in Australia and New Zealand cities can be found at the IOTA site (UT times only).