Close approach of the Moon and Pluto

The Moon and 134340 Pluto will make a close approach, passing within 0°03' of each other. The Moon will be 16 days old.

From London, the pair will be difficult to observe as they will appear no higher than 16° above the horizon. They will be visible in the morning sky, becoming accessible at around 23:58, when they rise 7° above your south-eastern horizon. They will then reach its highest point in the sky at 02:48, 16° above your southern horizon. They will be lost to dawn twilight at around 04:13, 14° above your southern horizon.

The Moon will be at mag -12.5, and 134340 Pluto at mag 14.6, both in the constellation Sagittarius.

The pair will be close enough to fit within the field of view of a telescope, but will also be visible through a pair of binoculars.

A graph of the angular separation between the Moon and 134340 Pluto around the time of closest approach is available here.

The positions of the two objects at the moment of closest approach will be as follows:

The coordinates above are given in J2000.0. The pair will be at an angular separation of 155° from the Sun, which is in Taurus at this time of year.

This entry in the observing calendar was provided by In-The-Sky.org

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