Viewing Notes
August 15, 2001
Tucson, AZ
Canon 10x30 IS Binoculars
8" Schmidt Cassegrain

Last month brought the opportunity to see the Moon occult Venus during the daytime. August 15th was a repeat occultation event, but this time it was the Moon occulting Jupiter. The morning western sky was clear which was a bit unusual for this time of year (The "Monsoon Season" of the desert southwest). I took both the Ultima 2000 and the Canon 10x30 IS binoculars to work to view this rare event. I was hopeful the monsoon skies would cooperate.

Around 10 a.m. (1800 UT) I went out side and was able to easily spot the thin crescent Moon in the binoculars. Jupiter was about 2 1/2 Moon diameters southeast and pretty faint. I could not see this with the naked eye. I set up the Ultima 2000 around 1 p.m. and was able to see Jupiter very close (about three Jupiter diameters) to the moon. The seeing conditions were very poor because of the heat and moisture in the air, but I was still able to make out the two main bands Jupiter. Jupiter's satellites were not discernable.

I missed the actual moment of contact because I was in a meeting. I came out from the meeting around 1:45 p.m. but Jupiter had already completely disappeared behind the Moon. Part of the reason I missed seeing Jupiter disappear is because I misread the occultation report in Sky & Telescope Magazine, thinking the event would start around 2:30. Instead, Jupiter was reappearing about this time. Unfortunately, the seeing conditions had deteriorated to such a point that it was difficult to see even the Moon in the telescope. I knew seeing Jupiter again wasn't going to happen so I put on a solar filter and looked at some sunspots for a bit.

I wish I could have seen Jupiter disappear behind the Moon like I did with Venus last month, but the views I was able to witness were memorable none-the-less.