5 replies to this topic

[MrSyzygy]

On the night of Feb 5-6, 2025, the dark side of a 1st quarter moon will hide The Pleiades, in what is known as a lunar occultation. The event is listed in the "Top events of 2025 not to miss!"[1] It will be visible in North America, except for areas near the eastern coast.

 

The Pleiades has 6 stars that are easily distinguishable with the naked eye by people of average sight.[2] These brightest stars are named Alcyone, Atlas, Electra, Maia, Merope, and Taygeta. Sometimes all 6 can be occulted in a single event. This time only a maximum of 5 can be occulted. These stars will disappear one by one as the moon passes in front of them. Binoculars or a telescope will be needed.

 

The image below shows exactly how many of these stars will disappear for various locations. Washington and Oregon are best placed for this event with California and Nevada not far behind.

 

Selected cites:

 

• 5 stars - Seattle | Portland | Vancouver | Denver | Salt Lake City
Alcyone | Atlas | Electra | Maia | Merope

 

• 5 stars - Redding | Reno
Alcyone | Atlas | Electra | Maia | Taygeta

 

• 4 stars - Los Angeles | San Francisco | San Diego | Las Vegas | Phoenix | Tucson
Alcyone | Electra | Maia | Taygeta

 

• 4 stars - Oklahoma City | Wichita | Amarillo | Lubbock
Alcyone | Electra | Maia | Merope

 

• 4 stars - Billings | Bismarck | Rapid City | Calgary | Edmonton | Winnipeg
Alcyone | Atlas | Electra | Merope

 

• 4 stars - Crescent City | Cedar City
Alcyone | Atlas | Electra | Maia

 

• 3 stars - Dallas | Fort Worth
Electra | Maia | Merope

 

• 3 stars - San Antonio | Austin | Monterrey
Electra | Maia | Taygeta

 

• 3 stars - Albuquerque
Alcyone | Electra | Maia

 

• 3 stars - Kansas City | Minneapolis
Alcyone | Electra | Merope

 

• 2 stars - Chicago | St Louis | Indianapolis
Electra | Merope

 

• 2 stars - Houston | Waco
Electra | Maia

 

• 1 star - Atlanta | Nashville | Cincinnati | Toronto | Ottawa
Electra

 

Clear skies!

 

 

[1] https://earthsky.org...tachment_495706
[2] https://www.skyatnig...usters/pleiades
[3] calculations performed using Occult v4.2025 from IOTA http://www.lunar-occ...ota/occult4.htm
[4] maps by Google Maps https://maps.google.com

[Josephus Miller]

Excellent! Thanks for the heads up. Reminder set.

[JOEinCO]

Thanks!

[MrSyzygy]

Here's the pre-game show. The occultation starts soon!

 

[Josephus Miller]

I spent all night last night up with sick kiddos so I don’t think I’ll make it out, unfortunately. I’m counting on you guys to come through with interesting reports!

[RMay]

Heavy cloud cover was moving in, so there’s not much to report other than I needed to get what I could as conditions allowed. iPhone to my Questar 3.5 at 87.5x magnification; didn’t bother waiting for the first star(s) to pass…

 

FWIW…

 

Ron

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