The Bengaluru-based Indian Institute of Astrophysics (IIA) has filmed the passing of the moon in front of Antares, a bright red star.
The moon passed in front of Antares on April 27, hiding it for roughly 40 minutes. IIA said that this event was visible only from southern India. IIA filmed the event from its Bengaluru campus using a camera on an 8-inch telescope.
While moving in its orbit roughly once a month, the moon will occasionally occult, or hide, bright stars that are behind, and sometimes, even planets. This happens now and then for the star Antares (Jyeshtha), which is the brightest star in the constellation of Scorpius. Since the moon is relatively close to the Earth, such occultations will be visible only from some locations on the globe, similar to why a solar eclipse is seen only from a particular part of the globe.
