On the night of December 10-11 of 2008 the moon will occult (cover) the Pleiades Star Cluster, M45 in the Messier Catalog. This will be visible all across North America. The occultation of the brighter members of the cluster will begin at about 2:30am EST on the east coast and about 10:30pm PST on the west coast.

Occultations are a treat to view and the Plieades, with multiple stars winking out of site on the dark lunar limb is a real joy to observe.

Since the moon is nearly full (97% illumination) you will want to use a telescope or at least steadily supported binoculars for viewing. If the weather co-operates I will be using my 91mm refractor.

Since I am in Vancouver the data provided below is for this location, but you can find more for your own location here: 2008 World Wide Occultations of the Pleiades Star Cluster (M45).

Here is a chart showing M45 and the moon at 22:20 on the 10th as seen from Vancouver: (click on the images for a larger image)

And a wider view at the same time to help you locate M45.

Here are a few disappearance and reappearance times for Vancouver for some of the brighter members:

Electra: dis; 22:47.57, reap: 23:25.59

Maia: dis; 23:06.16, reap: 00:17.37

Taygeta: dis; 22:52.55, reap: 00:01.38

Let me know if you have any success from wherever you view.