Full Moon Occults Pleiades
Taken by Bob Beal on December 3, 2025 @ St. George, Utah, USA
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The 99% Full Moon passed through the center of the Pleiades early this evening (Tue, Dec 3). Naked-eye or in regular binoculars they were completely overwhelmed by its glare, and even a 3.5" telescope had great difficulties keeping brighter members in view.

The Moon managed to squeeze in between Taygeta and Merope without occulting either one. Celaeno and Sterope were eclipsed but invisible, being too dim to counter the Moon's brilliance, but the disappearances of Maia and Alcyone could be followed in the scope--they vanished so close to the Moon it felt like they were absorbed into its lit part rather than disappearing behind its shadowed part (the actual Full Moon occurred late the next afternoon). Electra could also be spotted during nautical twilight in time for its eclipse but I hadn't yet set up the scope.

Viewing the Moon's highlands through the scope Merope in its near-miss had more the looks of a lone lit lunar mountain peak longing for the next day's sunrise to warm its shadowed flanks rather than that of an exceedingly faint star stealthily skimming past Luna's south edge.

Astro data (all times pm MST; data from Sky Safari Pro 6):

Twilight times:
	sunset		5:17
	end civil twi:	5:46 
	end nautical:	6:18
	end astro:	6:50
	Full Moon:      4:15 Dec 4, 2025 (the next afternoon)

Table of (magn./dis-/re-)appearances:
	Electra		m 3.7	d 5:57	r 6:52
	Celaeno		m 5.5	d 6:07	r 6:52
	Maia		m 3.9	d 6:30	r 7:19
	Taygeta		m 4.3	near-graze
	Merope		m 4.2	near-graze
	Asterope	m 5.8	miss
	Sterope		m 6.4	d 7:00	r 7:12
	Alcyone		m 2.9	d 7:04	r 7:34
	Pleione		m 5.1	miss
	Atlas		m 3.6	miss

Photo data:
intro sequence during twilight: Panasonic GX8, Lumix 14-140mm lens zooming in, photo tripod
... GX8: 9 frames x (f/5.5, auto, ISO 400), cadence 10 min
occultation sequence at night: Panasonic G9, Lumix 100-300mm lens @ 135mm, SW GTi mount
... G9: 45 frames x (f/4.5, 1 sec, ISO 400), cadence 4 min.
... N upper left, W clockwise; FOV: ~(5.5° x 7.5°)
processing:
... individual frames edited in Paint Shop Pro (PSP) 2023
... animated GIF created in SSuite GIF Animator
... date: Dec 3, 2025 5:00pm-9:00pm MST

Photographer's website:
No URL provided.
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