What passes in front of what — and when you can see it
Five kinds of sky events, computed from JPL ephemerides for where you are.
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Lunar occultations
The Moon passes in front of a planet or a bright star. Only a band of the Earth sees it, and the times change from city to city.
- You need your eyes or binoculars
- How often a few a year
- Each page a map of where it's seen and times for 500 cities
- 5 OctMon 2026The Moon occults MarsThe Moon hides Mars for up to 38 minutes, in daylight. 16 of the world's big cities see it; Novosibirsk, RU misses by 0.1′.
- 6 OctTue 2026The Moon occults JupiterThe Moon hides Jupiter for up to 81 minutes, in daylight for some, after sunset for others. 58 of the world's big cities see it; Rabat, MA misses by 0.9′.
- 2 NovMon 2026The Moon occults MarsThe Moon hides Mars, but from no large city — the map shows where.
- 3 NovTue 2026The Moon occults JupiterThe Moon hides Jupiter for up to 55 minutes, in a dark sky. 25 of the 146 listed Indian cities see it; Hubli misses by 0.6′.
- 7 NovSat 2026The Moon occults VenusThe Moon hides Venus for up to 29 minutes, in daylight. 3 of the world's big cities see it; Porto Alegre, BR misses by 4.7′.
- 30 NovMon 2026The Moon occults JupiterThe Moon hides Jupiter, but from no large city — the map shows where.
- 8 FebMon 2027The Moon occults MercuryThe Moon hides Mercury for up to 90 minutes, in daylight. 5 of the world's big cities see it; Auckland, NZ misses by 3.4′.
- 20 FebSat 2027The Moon occults JupiterThe Moon hides Jupiter, but from no large city — the map shows where.
- 19 MarFri 2027The Moon occults JupiterThe Moon hides Jupiter for up to 74 minutes, in daylight for some, after sunset for others. 6 of the world's big cities see it; Makassar, ID misses by 6.3′.
- 15 AprThu 2027The Moon occults JupiterThe Moon hides Jupiter for up to 63 minutes, in daylight. 8 of the world's big cities see it; Lubumbashi, CD misses by 2.4′.
- 30 NovTue 2027The Moon occults VenusThe Moon hides Venus, but from no large city — the map shows where.
- 29 DecWed 2027The Moon occults MarsThe Moon hides Mars for up to 116 minutes, in daylight for some, after sunset for others. 74 of the world's big cities see it; Multan, PK misses by 0.6′.
- 22 JanSat 2028The Moon occults AntaresThe Moon hides Antares for up to 81 minutes, in a dark sky. 146 of the 146 listed Indian cities see it.
- 23 FebWed 2028The Moon occults MercuryThe Moon hides Mercury for up to 102 minutes, in daylight. 6 of the world's big cities see it; Bandung, ID misses by 14.2′.
- 30 MarThu 2028The Moon occults VenusThe Moon hides Venus for up to 53 minutes, in daylight. 13 of the world's big cities see it; Gujranwala, PK misses by 0.7′.
- 30 MarThu 2028The Moon occults AlcyoneThe Moon hides Alcyone for up to 69 minutes, in a dark sky. 105 of the 146 listed Indian cities see it; Dwarka misses by 0.1′.
- 13 AprThu 2028The Moon occults AntaresThe Moon hides Antares for up to 87 minutes, in daylight for some, after sunset for others. 133 of the 146 listed Indian cities see it; Kozhikode misses by 0.2′.
- 17 AugThu 2028The Moon occults MarsThe Moon hides Mars, but from no large city — the map shows where.
- 15 SepFri 2028The Moon occults VenusThe Moon hides Venus for up to 62 minutes, in a dark sky. 1 of the world's big cities see it; La Paz, BO misses by 46.9′.
- 20 SepWed 2028The Moon occults MercuryThe Moon hides Mercury, but from no large city — the map shows where.
- 13 JanSat 2029The Moon occults VenusThe Moon hides Venus for up to 52 minutes, in daylight. 3 of the world's big cities see it; Semarang, ID misses by 15.8′.
- 11 FebSun 2029The Moon occults MercuryThe Moon hides Mercury for up to 66 minutes, in daylight. 25 of the 146 listed Indian cities see it; Jaipur misses by 0.1′.
- 11 OctThu 2029The Moon occults VenusThe Moon hides Venus for up to 66 minutes, in a dark sky. 6 of the world's big cities see it; Auckland, NZ misses by 53.7′.
- 11 OctThu 2029The Moon occults MarsThe Moon hides Mars for up to 76 minutes, in daylight for some, after sunset for others. 40 of the world's big cities see it; Kinshasa, CD misses by 0.8′.
- 14 SepMon 2026The Moon occults VenusDaylight occultation of Venus by a three-day crescent Moon; the north limit runs across north India — Delhi misses, Mumbai gets an hour.
The Moon and the stars
Every night the Moon slides over fainter stars. A star doesn't fade — it switches off at one edge and back on at the other. Computed for your own place.
- You need binoculars or a small telescope
- How often about one a night
- Each page a month calendar and every event for your location
This month: September 2026 — 31 occultations on 14 nights from New Delhi with a small telescope
Asteroid occultations
An asteroid slips in front of a star and its shadow — as wide as the asteroid — sweeps a narrow path across the Earth. Inside it the star blinks out for a few seconds; a few kilometres outside, nothing.
- You need a telescope of 100 mm or more, ideally a camera
- How often two or three paths over India a night
- Each page a month of paths across India, each mapped, with how close it passes you
This month: September 2026 — 65 paths across India at night · 5 over New Delhi
Jupiter's moons
Io, Europa, Ganymede and Callisto slip behind Jupiter, into its shadow and across its face — and the Great Red Spot turns to face us every ten hours.
- You need any small telescope
- How often most nights
- Each page a month of events and a full-screen diagram of the moons, minute by minute
This month: September 2026 — 244 events · 43 mutual
Saturn's moons
Titan, Rhea, Dione and Tethys cross Saturn's face and fall into its shadow — possible only in the few years around the 2025 ring-plane crossing.
- You need a telescope, 100 mm or more
- How often most nights while the season lasts
- Each page a month of events and a full-screen diagram, minute by minute
This month: September 2026 — 319 events
How these are made
Every time, line and diagram here is computed, not copied: planets, the Moon and the Sun from the JPL DE431 ephemeris, Jupiter's and Saturn's moons from JPL's satellite ephemerides, asteroids from JPL's Small-Body Database, stars from Gaia DR3 and Hipparcos-2, and the Moon's mountains from NASA's LRO laser altimeter. The lunar-occultation list is chosen by hand; each page links the data it was built from. How this is computed, and what it was checked against →