Occultations in 2023
Sky watchers will have few opportunities to see lunar occultations with stars and
planets in the later half of 2023. The moon will occult Antares (the brightest star
of Scorpius constellation) in late August while lunar occultations of Jupiter will
take place in May, and that of Venus in November. But they won’t be visible from
India, sadly.
Upcoming Lunar Occultation
Lunar Occultation of Antares will take place in late August but it would be difficult to observe from the Indian subcontinent. However, a close conjunction between the pair would be more widely visible. Apart from that, conjunctions of planets among themselves and with the moon will be easily visible throughout the year.
About Earth
Solar System
Sun
But what is Occultation?
It is a phenomenon when one object is hidden from the observer by another object passing between them. Simple examples are solar and lunar eclipses. Another frequent occultation is that of the moon, known as the lunar occultation, during which our moon occults planets or stars in the sky. However, lunar occultations of planets are rare events. Our solar system planets show occultations as well when they pass across
planets or stars!
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