14 DAY TRIAL // Late in the evening of September 19th, people living or traveling north of a line crossing North America will be able to observe the Pleiades star cluster being hidden by our moon.
Although the term occultation – which is derived from the Latin "occultatio," meaning hiding – might be new to many of you, such events occur pretty often. In astronomy, it refers to a space object – the moon in this case – which obscures another one – the Pleiades, obviously – by moving in front of it. The waning moon and the occultation process can be spotted by means of a telescope or even binoculars.
This follows a series of Pleiades occultation events that were visible around the world this year – on August 23rd, it was easy to spot from Europe and Asia, while on October 17th, eastern parts of the Asian continent and people from northwestern America will be able to enjoy it. The brightest stars of the cluster will appear and will then be covered by the light side of the moon, in order to re-emerge on its dark side.
Half an hour after the moon rises, viewers will have 60 to 90 minutes of observation time. The regions of Nova Scotia and Newfoundland will be able to gaze at the shiniest of the Pleiades, Alcyone, while European watchers will admire Maia and Taygeta, the northernmost stars of the cluster. The best places for viewing will be eastern Canada and the northeastern part of the United States continent. Sadly, the most part of the western side of America is going to miss the entire show, since by the time the moon rises, it will have already moved past the cluster of Pleiades.
Just hope for a favorable weather forecast for Friday evening, since you've most probably seen rainfalls before, but very rarely or never at all such an interesting occultation phenomenon.