Jupiter’s moon Europa to obscure distant star

On 19 June 2022, Jupiter’s intriguing moon Europa will pass in front of a distant star, making that star appear to disappear for at least a minute. This event will be easy to see with any size of telescope from certain parts of Africa.

The occultation takes place at 03:05:57 UTC, and it is only visible across a rather narrow track of the Earth’s surface. The centre line of that track passes through the African countries of Namibia, Botswana and Zimbabwe. Eastwards from here, it will be lost from view by the rising Sun.

The occulted star is below the limits of visibility to the naked eye but is not too faint. With an apparent brightness of magnitude 9, it will be easily visible in any size of telescope. To find it on the sky, astronomers should look at coordinates RA: 00:23:46.52, Dec: +01:13:18.92.

Observations of the event can be sent to europaocc2022.imcce@obspm.fr.