I predict that Jupiter’s Galilean satellite Europa will appear in annular transit across Io during the evening of 2009 NOV 12.  I’ve created two diagrams.  The first is a view from above Jupiter’s north pole, and the second is a view from Earth.  They can be seen by clicking:  http://www.curtrenz.com/astronomical .  Below is my timetable.

Europa Annularly Transits Io

2009 NOV 12 CST (UT-6)

20:03:41 CST  Partial Transit Begins

20:05:29 CST  Annular Transit Begins

20:05:36 CST  Minimum Separation between Satellite Centers

20:05:44 CST  Annular Transit Ends

20:07:33 CST  Partial Transit Ends

Photos, descriptions and timings of this event would be welcome additions to this thread.

During the following afternoon/evening Ganymede will totally occult Io.  This will be an evening event only on the eastern portion of North America, with afternoon occurrence elsewhere on the continent.  At the same time, Io’s shadow will be transiting Jupiter. 

For those who might be wondering about the differing terminology, an occultation occurs when a celestial body covers another one with an apparent smaller angular diameter; the converse is a transit.

Ganymede Totally Occults Io
2009 NOV 13 CST (UT-6)

16:20:45 CST Partial Occultation Begins
16:31:31 CST Total Occultation Begins
16:33:25 CST Minimum Separation between Satellite Centers
16:35:20 CST Total Occultation Ends
16:46:26 CST Partial Occultation Ends

Thanks for posting that information, Curt.  At this point, unfortunately, the weather forecast for my area doesn't look very promising for either event.

Dave Mitsky