The 97% illuminated waning gibbous Moon will occult stars of the Pleiades (M45) cluster for observers in the Americas during the night of 2009 NOV 03/04. Immersions will occur on the lunar bright limb and emersions on the dark limb. Folks located on a graze path will witness a star winking on and off as lunar hills and valleys pass by. Those between graze paths will see full occultations.

I’ve created two graphics related to the event. The first is a graze map for the Americas of the six brightest Pleiads. The second is a preview of the occultations as seen from Chicago’s Adler Planetarium. They can be seen by clicking: http://www.curtrenz.com/astronomical

Photos and descriptions of the event would be welcome additions to this thread.

__________________
Curt Renz - "Centaur"
For monthly astronomical calendar visit:
www.CurtRenz.com/astronomical

For those in California it may appear from my graze map of the six brightest Pleiads that you are shut out from this event. But three of the Pleiades lesser lights will be occulted for Californians. Below is a graze map similar to the one on my website, but with 21 Pleiads rather than just the 6 brightest. I did not add the star name labels due to the potential for clutter. But if anyone notices a graze path passing near his home, please let me know if more precise graze path information is desired and for what area. I can also provide occultation timings for those between graze paths, if longitude, latitude and altitude are included in a reply.

__________________
Curt Renz - "Centaur"
For monthly astronomical calendar visit:
www.CurtRenz.com/astronomical