An expedition by IOTA/ES has successfully observed a stellar occultation by asteroid (65803) Didymos at Pabillonis, Sardinia, on 2026 April 16.
An occultation with a duration of 0.3 s was recorded with IOTA/ES' portable 50-cm-telescope M2.
Good work, guys! 👍

(65803) Didymos and its satellite Dimorphos were targets for NASA's DART mission. ESA's mission HERA is now on its way to reach the asteroid in November 2026.

#space #asteroid #NASA #ESA #citizenscience #occultation #astronomy

TTSO20 – The Twentieth Trans-Tasman Symposium on Occultations – 6 April 2026, Tamworth, New South Wales, Australia.
(European time: Night of April 5/6)

Everybody interested in stellar occultation observations can join the symposium online after registration.

Programme and details here:
https://occultations.org.nz/website_d9bc6b2c/meetings/

#astronomy #occultation #citizenscience #space #science #asteroid #Moon

Journal for Occultation Astronomy 2026-02 is now available for free.

https://www.iota-es.de/JOA/JOA2026_2.pdf

This issue:
Occultation by (136108) Haumea on 2026 May 4, Trans-Neptunian object (225088) Gonggong, Tool for Fresnel diffraction integral, VAMOR+, Invitation to ESOP45 and more

Back issues:
https://www.iota-es.de/joafree.html

#astronomy #space #occultation #citizenscience #asteroid #journal #science

Join the 45th European Symposium on Occultation Projects at Observatoire Midi-Pyrénées in Toulouse, France, on 22. – 23. August 2026.

Alongside the conference with lectures and discussions, trips will be offered to tourist and scientific sites.

We will be glad to see you in Toulouse in person, but a free on-line participation via Zoom will also be offered after early registration.

Registration here:
https://esop45.iota-es.de/

#occultation #Moon #asteroid #space #citizenscience #astronomy

IOTA/ES - Call for Observations:
Trans-Neptunian object (523738) 2014 SH349 will occult a 12.5 mag star UCAC4 498-006441 on 2026 Mar 05, ~21:15 UT. The expected maximum duration will be 23 s.

23 stations across Europe will try to observe the stellar occultation.
Extended error limits! Please observe all over Europe!

Details here:
https://cloud.occultwatcher.net/event/1889-523738-57173-648598-U006441

#occultation #space #astronomy #asteroid #citizenscience

#LunarOccultation of #Mercury
#Astronomy #Picture of the Day

https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap260228.html

#APOD #Moon #Occultation

A stellar occultation by Centaur (54598) Bienor was observed by 10 stations in the south of Europe on 2026 Feb 20.
5 stations reported a positive observation.
Congratulations to all observers! Well done!

https://cloud.occultwatcher.net/event/1876-54598-112865-650244-U041023

#astronomy #occultation #centaur #asteroid #space #citizenscience

The young crescent moon occulted Mercury today...as seen from the mountains of southern New Mexico.

First photo is a telephoto shot of the moon only a minute after it uncovered our innermost planet. This was taken in bright twilight as a wind and dust storm was easing up.

Second photo is a wider angle shot ten minutes later that includes Venus in the bottom third of the frame. The evening twilight sky colors are pallid because of the dust storm clouds billowing a mile below me on the floor of the Tularosa basin.

#Mercury #Moon #Crescent #Occult #Occultation #Astronomy #Twilight #Evening #Photography #Astrophotography

The first worldwide preliminary predictions for stellar occultations by asteroids in 2027 calculated by E. Goffin, Belgium, are now available.
Be aware, that errors bars of the predictions are very large for events so far in the future.

Overview sorted by regions (Europe is region 3) and instructions to use the files:

https://www.bedekkingen.vvs.be/predictions/asteroids2027/

Many thanks, Edwin! 👍️

#occultation #planets #space #astronomy #asteroid #citizenscience