Watch the Moon Hide Jupiter This Week

dawn sky on May 17, 2023 showing  crescent moon close to Jupiter in the east

This Wednesday morning look towards the east an hour before your local sunrise to catch a breaktakingly close encounter between our Moon and the largest planet in the solar system. The moon itself will be an eye-catching, thin crescent. If you happen to be situated in Canada, the contiguous US, Mexico, Greenland, northern Scandinavia, or the northern UK, you might also witness the crescent Moon passing in front of—or eclipsing—the colossal planet- known technically as a lunar occultation. The best views are favoured for western North Americans. Those across the eastern half of the continent will have the actual occultation occur after sunrise making it a more challenging event to watch. So basically the specific location you’re at will greatly impact what you’ll be able to observe .

(cyan=occultation at moonrise/moonset; red dotted=daytime occultation; blue=twilight occultation; white=nighttime occultation) Credit: Occult 4.2

For specific times and a visibility map of this event check out this link.