JUPITER AND THE MOON

Press, Volume LXXXIII, Issue 25248, 29 July 1947, Page 6

JUPITER AND THE MOON

OCCULTATION MAY BE SEEN NEXT MONTH

A good opportunity of watching the occulting of the planet Jupiter by the moon will occur at 10.30 p.m. on September 19, according to Mr K. W. Roth, lecturer in physics at Canterbury University College. In reply to questions from several Grey mouth readers of “The Press,” he explained that, although by then Jupiter will be setting, it will be clearly visible. A previous opportunity of watching this phenomenon occurred last Saturday evening. “It is only a visual effect caused by the fact that the moon is seen in the same line of sight as Jupiter,” he explained. “As the moon is much closer to the earth than Jupiter it just becomes concealed for a time. The moon does not move exactly in the same plane as the earth, but may divide 5$ degrees south or north. Similarly, Jupiter is not exactly moving in the same plane as the earth about the sun, but may be 1J degrees south or north. The phenomenon may be fairly rare, but is very effective in the case of Jupiter, which is the brightest of the stars in the sky at the moment.” Mr Roth said that the same thing happened in some parts of the earth with Mars, and every month the moon occulted certain stars but as they were not bright ones the effect was not conspicuous.