Previous Club Meetings

Lunar Occultation of Saturn

Saturday, 04 January 2025
16:45-18:45

Cancelled due to thick cloud

At 17:18, the 25% lit waxing crescent Moon will pass in front of Saturn, occulting the planet for around an hour. The planet will reappear at 18:26. These times are only a rough guide.

Image credit: Stellarium

We'll aim to take a photo of the Moon with tiny Saturn close by. Please refer to the January 2025 Action Plan for more information.

Bonus: Jupiter's GRS will be centered on the planet at 19:13, so we'll check that out, too!

🌑 Venus–Moon Conjunction

Friday, 03 January 2025
16:15-17:30

The 16% lit crescent Moon will be positioned close to Venus in the evening sky, creating a stunning pairing that's perfect for a photo op! The contrast between the thin crescent Moon and the super bright Venus will make for a beautiful celestial snapshot.

Image credit: Stellarium

We're aiming to observe the phase of Venus during twilight before the sky gets too dark. Please refer to the January 2025 Action Plan for more information.

Jovian Moon Events

Thursday, 02 January 2025
21:30-00:30

We have an occultation, transit, shadow transit and eclipse to observe involving Jupiter's largest moon, Ganymede, and the planet's closest moon, Io.

Image credit: Stellarium

Ganymede Occ start: 2025 Jan 02 21:52
Io Tra start: 2025 Jan 02 22:01
Io Sha start: 2025 Jan 02 22:40
Ganymede Occ end : 2025 Jan 02 23:58
Io Tra end : 2025 Jan 03 00:12
Ganymede Ecl start: 2025 Jan 03 00:25
Io Sha end : 2025 Jan 03 00:52

We'll try to observe all of these events, paying special attention to the disappearance and reemergence of the moons at the times above.

Please refer to the January 2025 Action Plan for more information.

🌑 Mars–Moon Occultation

Wednesday, 18 December 2024
09:00-12:00

Cancelled due to bad weather

Special Event: The Moon will occult Mars in the daytime sky. Normally it's only possible to see the very bright planets (Jupiter and Venus) in broad daylight, but Mars should be bright enough this week to be spotted with binoculars or through the telescope.

Image credit: Stellarium

Mars will disappear behind the Moon at around 09:25 and will reemerge at 10:15. It will be a challenge to see this lunar occultation, but we'll give it a go (if you're around at nine in the morning!)

Please refer to the December 2024 Action Plan for more information.

Or course, we need the weather to be good. The probability of that happening is about 5%.

Io Shadow Transit
& Jupiter's GRS

Tuesday, 03 December 2024
20:30 - 22:45

We have another moon shadow transit to observe. This is the first of four we're attempting to observe in December.

Image credit: Stellarium

This time we'll try to spot Io as well as its shadow. The two will appear very close together as they pass over Jupiter's southern equatorial belt. Io itself will be hard to see due to the brightness of Jupiter, which is almost at opposition (07 Dec 2024).

The transit starts at 20:30 and ends at 22:36.

After the transit, the Great Red Spot will be in view. We'll use this opportunity to have another attempt at observing it!