Lunar Occultation of Uranus - 1/01/23

Hello everyone. 

Darren reminded me earlier today that there is a Lunar Occultation of the planet Uranus due to occur tonight Sunday 1st January 2023. 
Here are some details:
1. The timing of this occultation is 22.23 UT. 
2. The magnitude of the Moon is -11.2. 
3. Its distance is 388,906 kms from Earth. 
4. The Moon's illumination is 77.9%. (Gibbous) 
5. Its angular diameter is 30.7'
6. It's a 9.5 days old Moon. 
7. Uranus' magnitude is +5.7. 
8. Its distance is just short of 2.858,000,000 kms from Earth. 
9. Its angular diameter is 3.7". 
10. At the moment, over here on Dublin, the weather is reasonably good. There are some cloudy skies alright. But maybe we will see something. We live in hope! 

That's about all the information I can give for now. 

Happy viewing!

Aubrey. 
  

I have clear skies in my back garden in Dublin. 
It's all systems go!

Aubrey. 

And it's go for me!

So it's 1 degree and the vehicles are white with frost... but the occultation was clouded out. Now the Moon is shining brilliantly again... new year, same old story! 

Finbarr.

Oh No! That's terrible, Finbarr. 
I feel so sorry for you. 
Darren and I shared the occultation of Uranus over the phone. 
100% success!
More details tomorrow. 

Aubrey. 

Hello Aubrey and Finbarr, 

I'm sorry to read that cloud prevented you seeing occultation last night Finbarr - It was very good. I used 74X to observe it. And while the planet at this power was nothing more than a mere dot in the sky, Uranus did display its distinctive bluey/greenish colour. In terms of the finite details such as times etc., I'll leave those to Aubrey as he'll do a better job than I would. Shortly after the occultation we said 'goodnight', and I went in to get some food. 

I decided to return to the eyepiece shortly before 23:00UT to see Uranus reappear, but I never saw it??? I waited for almost an hour too. I was joined by a neighbour who had a look at the Moon though. She was amazed by what she could see through the telescope...and we wished each other Happy New Year just before midnight.

Wishing you all many clear nights for 2023,

Darren.