Watch a bright star disappear on Thursday

The first quarter Moon will pass in front of the bright star Antares. Astronomers call this a lunar occultation, the last visible across North America for 2023.

Occultations occur when a object like an planet, asteroid, or the Moon, passes in front of a something very far away, like a star. Solar eclipses are a special form of lunar occultations.

Lunar occultations occur several times each year and are visible only from certain parts of the world. This one is unique because the star will seem to disappear as it passes behind the unlit portion of the first quarter Moon.

To see the occultation, look low on the southeastern horizon beginning at 11:00 p.m for the Moon to slowly cover up Antares, positioned in the lower left. The star will reappear about an hour later in the lower right. This will probably wont be visible from the suburbs, hidden behind trees and neighbors houses.  For the best view, look from an area with a clear southeastern horizon.  Like most celestial events in the eastern skies, the best views will be looking out over the ocean from a Carolina beach.

Occultations give us the opportunity to see the movement of the Moon with our own eyes. It only takes a few minutes of watching to see the star disappear.  This is because, from our perspective, Antares appears to stand still from its position about 553 light years (3+ quadrillion miles) away while the Moon moves steadily through the sky each evening from its position only 1.26 light seconds (a mere 235,000 miles) away

For observers from the middle part of the state east, that reappearance will probably happen below the treeline for most of us. If your southeastern horizon is clear enough, you should be able to see the star emerge from behind the Moon near the lower right edge.

We wont see another occultation until next year. The Moon will again pass in front of Antares on March 3 and May 23, 2024.  Bright star Spica will be upstaged by the Moon on July 14, and November 27.  Astronomers have January 13, 2025 circled on their calendars for the occultation of Mars by the Moon.