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 ((Click
image to view movie)
As the Moon wheels around in its orbit around Earth, it
constantly passes in front of background objects—usually
stars, but sometimes a planet. Most of the stars it
blocks, or “occults,” are too faint to be seen by the naked
eye, but sometimes a brighter star is occulted.
On August 15, 2001, at 1:20
PM PDT, Jupiter and our Moon engaged in a vanishing act as
the Moon passed in front of our solar system's largest
planet. The event, called an "occultation," was observed
and captured on video through Chabot Space & Science
Center's antique 8" refracting telescope, "Leah."
70 minutes later, Jupiter
reappeared from behind the limb of the Moon, officially
ending the occultation event at 2:30 PM, PDT.
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