On Wednesday (December 7), skywatchers around the world received a celestial show as the full moon eclipsed Mars in the night sky.
The rare event, known as a lunar occultation, refers to a single celestial body — in this case, Mars – appearing to disappear or hide behind another – in this case, the moon. This ambiguity was particularly noteworthy because Mars was in opposition, viz a land It was directly between it and the Sun, which makes the Red Planet appear particularly bright in the sun night sky .
Related: Watch Mars in opposition in this free webcast tonight (December 8)
A view of the last full moon of 2022 through the Christmas lights in San Salvador, El Salvador. (Photo credit: Camilo Freedman/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)
Mars disappearance last night before full moon It produced some great images from observers from all over the world. The Griffith Observatory in California has a great view the moon Mars joined on December 7, and they captured a time-lapse of the red planet disappearing behind Earth’s celestial companion as seen in the video above.
Plus, skywatchers around the world are posting gorgeous photos of the occultation of the moon on Mars on social media, offering a look at one of the most-watched celestial events of the year.
Astrophotographer Andrew McCarthy Mars and the Moon caught (Opens in a new tab) In a nice close-up:
Spaceflight photographer John Crouse A An amazing shot of Mars (Opens in a new tab) As it appeared behind the moon after the unseen:
Amateur astrophotographer Tom Williams has produced a remarkable image of the Moon and Mars by combining and displaying several images An explanation of how the image was made (Opens in a new tab) on Twitter.
Amateur astronomer and photographer Tom Glenn A An amazing picture of Mars (Opens in a new tab) Rise above the moon by stacking 15 different photo frames.
Astronomer and science communicator Phil Plait has been arrested Mars crawls behind the moon (Opens in a new tab) Just before invocation.
The moon’s masking of Mars by a full moon was particularly noteworthy because the red planet only appears at opposition every 26 months, so the next opposition won’t happen until January 2025.
Mars was also particularly close to Earth during this event, which occurred when the planet was at perihelion, or its closest point to Earth in its orbit. The record for closest approach between Mars and Earth was set in 2003 at just 34.8 million miles (56 million km); According to NASA, Mars and Earth will not be this close for another 265 years, until the year 2287.
Editor’s note: If you took a great photo of Mars in opposition or moon occultation and would like to share it with Space.com readers, submit your photo(s), comments, name, and location to spacephotos@space.com .
Editor’s note: This piece was updated at 4:30 PM EST (2130 GMT) on Dec. 8 to note that the record for Mars’ closest approach to Earth was set in 2003.
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