Catch a rare celestial event early Tuesday morning in the pre-dawn sky!

There will be a lunar occultation just before 4:30 a.m. The waning crescent moon will look like it’s crossing over the planet Jupiter, making it disappear and then reappear.

In astronomy, an occultation is when one celestial object crosses over another celestial object from our vantage point on Earth. In this instance, from our perspective, it will look like the moon is sliding directly over Jupiter and briefly covering it up.

In reality, out in space, the two objects are hundreds of millions of miles away from each other.

The occultation will all be visible to the unaided eye.

The waning crescent moon will be 20% illuminated and pretty bright.

Jupiter is always visible to the naked eye and looks like a star (mag 1.9).

If you want to see the finer details like the planetary disk or the Galilean moons, then you’ll need a small telescope to view.

The moon will rise at 2:22 a.m., followed closely by Jupiter at 2:31 a.m. Both objects will rise higher in the sky and at 4:23am, the moon will start to cover Jupiter. Jupiter will then re-emerge 5:27 a.m.

The next time the tri-state area will be able to see another lunar occultation of Jupiter will be on Nov. 27, 2037.