Occultation

by Paul LeFevre

I observed the occultation from Candlestick Park (Upper Box, Section 19, Row C, Seat 14), during the Giants game -- got to combine my two favorite things -- with 8x40 binoculars.

Using my wristwatch, at 3:54:13 UTC [May 22, 1999] I saw Regulus' light flare out along the curve of the moon briefly, then settle, then dim slightly, and finally at 3:55:08 it winked out. Just before that, the Giants pitcher (Mark Gardner) hit a home run, his first ever, to give the Giants a 3-0 lead over the Astros.

I saw the first reappearance of the star at 4:44:08 UTC. No flaring or wavering of the star's light was visible when it reappeared, but those things could have been harder to see over on the bright side of the moon :) Shortly after Regulus popped out the other side, Stan Javier scored on an Armando Rios double to once again give the Giants a 4-3 lead, which is how the game ended. Seems occultations were good luck to the Giants...

I had most of Section 19 watching the moon as much as the game. About 8:25, when I started looking up at the moon, people around started asking me what I was looking at. When I explained, word spread quickly through the section, and almost everyone with binoculars was looking up at the Moon and Regulus. At occultation, there were at least 10 people watching it wink out, and it drew a few "oohs." Good fun!