Occultation of Saturn, Tuesday, 17 September 2024, Northern Australia.

The jap sky at 19:26 AEST Tuesday, September 17 as seen from Brisbane (nearly 60 minutes after sundown) with Saturn nearly to be occulted by the Moon.   The inset exhibits the telescopic view on the time. (click on to embiggen).	The jap sky at 18:33 ACST Tuesday, September 17 as seen from Darwin with Saturn simply exiting the Moon because the occultation ends.   The inset exhibits the telescopic view on the time. (click on to embiggen).	The jap sky at 19:08 ACST Tuesday, September 17 as seen from Cairns with Saturn simply exiting the Moon because the occultation ends.   The inset exhibits the telescopic view on the time. (click on to embiggen).

On the early night of Tuesday, 17 September, between 6pm and 7pm  there may be an occultation
of Saturn as seen from Northern Australia (Queensland and Central Australia). All over the place else sees a graze or shut strategy. That is the third and remaining of three occultations seen from Australia this yr. This
finest as a binocular and telescope occasion. The Moon can have simply risen in some areas, so ingress could also be troublesome for telescopes, though Saturn’s exit could also be rather a lot simpler.

The trail of the occultation, taken from the IOTA site 

This occultation is seen from the jap and central Australia from the latitude of Surfers paradise and up (see desk beneath). Different websites on the identical approximate latitude will see related views.

In the remainder of Australia the Moon and Saturn can be very shut when the Moon rises (eg Coffs Harbour sees a graze).  

Begin watching about half an hour beforehand to get arrange and acquainted
with the sky. Saturn will disappear behind the darkish limb of the Moon very near the horizon. In Alice Springs and Darwin the Moon will rise with Saturn behind the Moon. Usually, you will want a stage, unobscured horizon to see the occultation at its finest. 

Once more, because the Moon is near the horizon when ingress happens (15-20°) it could be troublesome to get telescopes to level that low, and binoculars could also be required. By the point Saturn reappears the Moon can be larger (round 26°) so telescopes can be profitable. 

Imaging Saturn and the Moon collectively can be a problem, because of the variations in brightness, particularly because the Moon is almost full and the darkish limb is a skinny sliver. You’ll need a excessive ISO (3200 to 1600) to have a brief sufficient publicity time to cease Saturn from trailing, however the Moon can be over uncovered , it’s possible you’ll must take brief exposures of the Moon and  lengthy exposures of Saturn and overlay them. 

Attempt working towards the night time earlier than to get an thought of your cameras/cell phones efficiency. You’ll need a tripod to your digital camera or binoculars, and presumably some method to connect the digital camera to binoculars or telescope (devoted beginner astronomers will have already got this equipment). See this submit for some examples.

Extra cities in Australia and elsewhere will be discovered at the IOTA site (UT occasions solely).

Labels: binocular, Moon, Occultation, Saturn, telescope

# posted by Ian Musgrave @ 6:03 pm