Reserving ELO for Lunar Occultation of Mars

[rdavidjohnson63]

Suresh has pointed out there will be a Lunar Occultation of Mars Feb 18th early in the morning.
Currently Clear Outside is predicting 100% cloud cover.
http://clearoutside.com/forecast/44.77/ ... w=midnight

I will make a go/no-go decision Monday afternoon and post it here as to let everyone know if I will have ELO open for this event.

Here is a link to his original posting:
viewtopic.php?f=6&t=11456&p=54993

[ahmedreda]

Dave,

I plan to come and help you if its a go.

[Sureshks]

Hi Dave & Ahmed,

Sounds good. I will plan on being there Tuesday morning if it is clear. I'll bring a scope and an equatorial.mount. Dave you make the call on weather since you've got the furthest drive.

First contact is at 5:58am, and 4th contact is at 7:18am.

Do the front gates to Baylor open right at 5:00am? If so, we shouldn't tell people to arrive prior to that. Should we connect with the Baylor office to give them the heads up that there might be a gathering, and to ensure the gate opens on time that morning?

Suresh

[rdavidjohnson63]

I checked with the park. I have the instructions to open the front gate and keep it open.

[clayton]

fyi:

Moon's AZ

EcDirection.png (602.68 KiB) Viewed 1254 times

[Deane Clark]

What are the other lines?

[merle]

What are the other lines?

I'd guess sunrise, sunset, moonrise, moonset.

Here's the tool:

https://www.photoephemeris.com




Merle

[Bsting]

Any decision on go or no-go yet?

[rdavidjohnson63]

Looking at Clear Outside just now, things look good for tomorrow morning. I'll check again later this afternoon, but so far it looks good.
Assuming things hold, I plan to be at ELO at 5:00am to open the gate and get my stuff setup. Folks can plan to be out any time after that.
If anyone wants to arrive before that, let me know and I will plan accordingly.

[Deane Clark]

Any decision on go or no-go yet?

Are you back from AZ?

[Bsting]

Mandatory quick visit.
Going back on Thursday.

[rdavidjohnson63]

Clear Outside still calls for clear skies so I am a go for 5:00am tomorrow.

[rdavidjohnson63]

One last confirmation. I aiming to be at ELO around 5:00am.

[Bsting]

Hoped to but can’t make it

[rdavidjohnson63]

Cancelled.
I'm in Chaska and it is 100% overcast. Going home.

[merle]

Cancelled.
I'm in Chaska and it is 100% overcast. Going home.

Sorry to hear that Dave.

I was very surprised to see it was clear from my backyard and got a few handheld shots. I set up my C5 for viewing the disappearance.

Merle

[rdavidjohnson63]

I was also very surprised to see it clear up as I drove home.

I decided to setup in Pioneer Park in Little Canada and managed to get lots of good pictures of first contact up to the moment Mars is fully covered.

By the time Mars emerged from the other side, it was so bright Mars was not identifiable on any image I took regardless of the exposure I tried.

My work LapTop no longer allows me to read my camera memory card. I post a couple pictures when I can.

[merle]

With the occultation ending after sunrise, I didn't think I got Mars emerging, but here's what I found when I looked closer at the images... This is about a minute after it emerged.

Hint: Small bright dot at 2 ish


Merle

PS - moved topic to Star Parties and Events forum
-

[Bsting]

Very cool!

[Sureshks]

That's a great shot, Merle!

You should send that in to the Reflector, or to S&T. I haven't seen a published daytime photo that captured Mars.

Suresh

[defalkner]

Or to the APOD.