Penultimate Lunar Occultations Inbound for Jupiter, Venus and More in September

The Moon will occult several celestial objects in September, including Jupiter, Regulus, Venus, and the Pleiades. On September 8th, the -7% illuminated, waning crescent Moon will occult Jupiter in northeastern Asia and eastern North America. Jupiter will be visible in the daytime sky, and the event will last just over a minute. The Moon will cover 32” of Jupiter, and the visibility footprint will vary depending on the observing location. On September 9th, the -2% Moon will occult Regulus in the South Pacific, with New Caledonia offering the best view. The event will occur under dark skies, and the Moon will be 31 degrees west of the Sun. On September 14th, the -1.8 magnitude Venus will be occulted by the Moon in southeast Asia, with Europe, the UK, and parts of the Middle East seeing the event under daytime skies. The Moon will cover 37” of Venus, and the event could be a unique sight with the "horns of Venus" peeking above the dark lunar edge. On September 17th, the +38% waxing crescent Moon will occult Antares in the southern Indian Ocean. Finally, on September 30th, the -80% illuminated waning gibbous Moon will occult the Pleiades in northern Europe. The Moon will typically visit the Seven Sisters cluster on "hilly years" in its 18.6 year cycle, and observing and recording an occultation is as simple as aiming and tracking the Moon at the right time. The IOTA provides ingress/egress times for select locations, and a planetarium program like Stellarium can simulate a given occultation beforehand.

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