Lunar occultation of Jupiter
15 July 2012 by Lorenzo Comolli
The occultation of a planet by the Moon is a rare event. This is my first Jupiter occultation, and before I've observed Saturn
and Venus (respectively in 2001 and 1996). I've observed from Promiod,
in the Italian Alps, Valle d'Aosta, at 1600 m elevation. The night was
clear but with strong wind. Unfortunately Jupiter egress was below the
local horizon, hidden by a mountain at 14° elevation. When the Moon
and Jupiter rised from behind the far trees, this was the spectacle. See
the images below.
Tech data: TEC 140 refractor (focal length 1011 mm), Canon EOS 350D, 4 s
exposure, 400 ISO, RAW, sequence of images from 2.20 UT up to 2.54 UT, interval between shots 10 s,
15 July 2012, when the sky was very bright due to twilight.
Images and Video
Video of the complete egress phase as I've seen from Promiod. Click on 1080p and full screen for best quality.
h2.20 UT. First shot showing the Moon behind the trees. The satellite Ganimede has just started the egress. Click for hires.
h2.21 UT. Again the Moon behind the trees with the satellite Ganimede completely egressed. Click for hires.
h2.25 UT. Also the satellite Callisto has finished the occultation. Click for hires.
