ANNOUNCING A STAR PARTY, SUNDAY, MARCH 13, TO OBSERVE AND RECORD OCCULTATION OF A BRIGHT STAR (and several others!) BY THE MOON

Friends,
 
A conjunction of the moon with the magnitude 2.9 star Tejat (mu Geminorum) will occur local 20:10:04 EDT time on Sunday March 13th.  This results in an occultation of the star, causing it to disappear behind the dark side of the waxing gibbous moon.  It will reappear 1hr 20 min later on the bright side.  This is a much brighter star than kappa Piscium whose occultation we observed last October.
 
These times are for the Werner Schmidt Observatory, and will be different for other sites.  They will be close, but will not agree with planetarium software which does not use topocentric coordinates.
 
But that’s not all. There are 19 other occultations that evening before 1:00am, mostly of stars about magnitude 9.  This promises to be an interesting evening, and an opportunity to get together for some memorable viewing, weather permitting.
 
But there are rain dates!  That’s right!   There are seven events the next night, and nine the night after that.  
 
Because there are so many magnitude 9 stars involved, I will bring out our big light bucket, the 18” Obsession, and am looking for another staff member to operate the 16” Meade. If things are going well, the weather’s nice, and we finish getting the G-11 to run remotely from inside, I may be tempted to put a camera on the 4” refractor and connect it to the monitor and record a close double star.  If enough staff members can make it, we can also set up the 8” Nexstar.  We need several observatory staff members to run the various scopes and watch the clock.
 
Since we can see the moon with the naked eye, it should be no trouble observing the Tejat event with binoculars.  Even if you can't make the party, you can take a quick peek at the dark edge of the moon at the aforementioned time.
 
For more information on this and other occultations, this website leads to enough information to keep you busy until Sunday:
http://lunar-occultations.com/entersite.htm
 
My plan is to start setting up for a star party about 7:00pm.   If you have doubts about the viewing and think it may be cancelled, call the observatory at 508-398-4765.  No answer means the party is off.  Try again Monday and Tuesday.
 
Unless the weather and our stamina are outstanding, we probably will not persist until 1:00am. A decision to shut down will be reached by the consensus of staff helping out.
 
 
The occultation last October was well attended and was enjoyed by all.  Hope as many or more people can make it this time.
 
Bernie