Mare Crisium

Observing

See a lunar occultation bonanza on the night of 5—6 November

2 November 2017 Ade Ashford

Many will be looking skyward to see terrestrial pyrotechnics this Bonfire Night, but if you own a small telescope and can escape the light pollution, you can see the waning gibbous Moon hide three naked-eye stars in Taurus on the night of 5—6 November, culminating in first-magnitude star Aldebaran in the small hours of Monday morning.

Observing

See the Moon score a Bull’s-Eye, covering Aldebaran in Taurus on 23 December

19 December 2015 Ade Ashford

Early on the evening of Wednesday, 23 December, observers in the British Isles can see the 13-day-old waxing gibbous Moon pass in front of first-magnitude Aldebaran — the ‘Eye of the Bull’ in Taurus — the brightest star to be occulted for UK observers in 2015. Here’s our observing guide to this readily observable event in large binoculars and small telescopes.