Jupiter Occulted by the Moon

flag burning writes "A rare and spectacular event will occur in the early morning hours of Tuesday, Dec. 7 when the brilliant planet Jupiter and three of its largest satellites pass behind Earth's Moon. Along the Eastern Seaboard, the Moon will be more than 20 degrees above the horizon when it covers Jupiter in the predawn hours."

Comments

Spectacular?

[CaptainCheese]

I can't see how having jupiter hidden from view by the moon will be particularly "spectacular". I'm no astronomer, but I doubt they're too excited about this either - it's not of any astronomical significance beyond demonstrating that Keplerian motion of the planets is still happening.

You can watch it, which makes it a spectacle on some level - a dot of light goes behind the moon then later it comes out from the other side - but that's only impressive when it's the Moon or the Earth obscuring the sun.,.

Re:Spectacular?

[Desiderata]

Well, most astronomical occurences aren't very spectacular perse. The much hyped Venus transit? It was just a day of watching a black dot slowly move across the sun. But it's still interesting because it's a landmark and it gives us something tangible to look at with say... a nine-inch telescope. Gives amateurs something to do, something to stimulate discussion.
Oh, and it probably happens only once in two hundred years or the like, as with most such phenomenon.

quotation without reference!

[trs9000]

does it bother anyone else when submitters quote the article linked without citation?
and without any original content either... now perhaps the submitter also wrote the article.
but man. do some work! or give proper credit please