NEXT ASTRONOMICAL EVENT:

LUNAR OCCULTATION OF THE PLEIADES TOMORROW, SEPTEMBER 2ND/SEPTEMBER 3RD:

Tomorrow there will be another treat for amateur astronomers as the Moon occults the Pleiades star cluster. The Moon will cross the middle of the cluster thereby occulting 5 of the famous "seven sisters". There are a few caveats. In eastern Canada the Moon will cover fewer of the stars in this cluster. Also Saskatchewan, being as it doesn't observe daylight savings time, will see the events "an hour earlier" than here in Winnipeg. Here in Winnipeg the occultation of all the stars in the cluster will be visible from 12:29 am Sept 3rd until 1:56 am. In Saskatchewan the occultation will begin at 11:30 pm September 2nd. Points west of Winnipeg will observe the full series of occultations. Times for the occulatations in MDT and PDT can be found via the Time and Date site. Here is a list of when the Moon occults various stars in the Pleiades cluster in Central Daylight Time and when the star reappears. More on this later if I have time.

STAR................Time of Occultation

Celaeno 12:29 am

Electra 12:42 am

Taygeta 12:42 am

Maia 12:53 am

Asterope 1:01 am

STAR................Time of Reappearance

Electra 12:56 am

Celaeno 1:20 am

Taygeta 1:37 am

Maia 1:46 am

Asterope 1:56 am