The Occultation of Antares (157/365)

So we had some guests over tonight, who left around 10PM and I was like, uhh, wtf am I gonna shoot today? Oh yeah, I saw the moon rising out our living room window, let's take a lame pic of it with the Pentacon or something.

 

 

So I take a few snaps with the Pentacon thinking "This is gonna be such a lame shot :LOLOLOLOL:" when I realize there's this dot just to the east of the moon, and when I say just to the east of the moon, I mean like really, immediately to the east.

 

And if you've looked at the night sky and the moon's path and the celestial equator enough, you immediately realize, in situations like this: "shit, the moon's gonna occult that SOB tonight, mama!" And that mama is a screamin' bright star, what with it being so visible on a near full moon night, so close to her majesty.

 

 

So I hop on my Mac, fire up Stellarium, and sho'nuff, Antares, the red giant is on a celestial collision (or, more like it, obliteration) course with the moon. Unfortunately, here in Boston, we were just ever so slightly too north to see Antares be hidden by the moon, but it's gonna get damn close. And it's gonna happen in a little over an hour.

 

 

So, I run to my room, bring out my Celestar that hasn't been put to use in sooooo long, and set it up inside by the living room window, and start firing away.

 

This is one of the better shots, taken very close to the moment of conjunction. Schaweet.

 

 

Here's a little tidbit. The path of the moon across the night sky is called 白道, or the White Path in Japanese and it's tilted about 5 degrees from the ecliptic (the path of the sun). And, of course, if you know your zodiac, you know that Scorpio is along the ecliptic (which is why it's one of the 12 signs).

 

So, what does it mean that a nearly full moon is occulting Antares, located in Scorpio, which is along the ecliptic?

 

It means that the White Path is crossing the ecliptic close to the new/full moon (cuz, you know, any two circles that go around a sphere with the same diameter will always cross each other exactly twice at polar opposite ends). What does that mean? It means, we're nearing that time of the year when there's a solar eclipse to be seen somewhere (and there's always a solar eclipse to be seen somewhere on this planet at least once a year).

 

Which one is that?

 

I'll tell you which one. It's the one I'm going to go see next month, baby :-))))))))))))

 

 

 

♪Grand Master Flash & The Furious Five♪

 

Weapon of the Day: EOS 5D + Celestron Celestar 8 Deluxe (2048mm F10)

Done