The moon will eclipse Mars subsequent week, and you may watch the occasion reside from the consolation (and heat!) of your individual residence.
On Monday (Jan. 30), Mars will disappear from view behind the moon throughout an occasion often known as a lunar occultation. Skywatchers within the southernmost United States, stretching from California to Florida, in addition to Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean ought to be capable to see the spectacle within the evening sky beginning round 8:30 p.m. PST for Los Angeles. A listing of optimum viewing occasions will be discovered on Space.com courtesy of veteran skywatcher Joe Rao.
For skywatchers who reside outdoors of the viewing space or aren’t eager on braving a chilly January evening, the Griffith Observatory in Los Angeles is internet hosting a free on-line livestream of the occasion courtesy of the observatory’s website (opens in new tab) or its YouTube channel (opens in new tab). The livestream begins on Monday (Jan. 30) at 11:00 p.m. EST (0400 GMT on Jan. 31) and can final for 2 hours.
Associated: Don’t miss the moon eclipse Mars next week on Monday (Jan. 30)
In the course of the Griffith Observatory’s livestream of the lunar occultation of Mars, the Pink Planet will disappear behind the moon round 11:36 p.m. EST (0436 GMT on Jan. 31) after which reappear almost an hour later at 12:30 a.m. EST (0530 GMT).
The final lunar occultation of Mars occurred on Dec. 7, 2022 beneath December’s full Cold Moon and wowed skywatchers, lots of whom managed to take plenty of stunning photos. The Griffith Observatory additionally launched beautiful footage of that earlier occultation, giving some sense of what to anticipate for this subsequent one on Monday.
For Monday’s lunar occultation of Mars, the moon will probably be a 68% illuminated waxing gibbous, according to Farmer’s Almanac (opens in new tab). Mars, in the meantime, may also not be as vivid as in December’s lunar occultation. The Pink Planet has moved near 30 million miles (48 million kilometers) farther away from Earth since that occasion, showing far much less vivid than the final time it was eclipsed by the moon.
However, this could show to be a photogenic lunar occultation of Mars as a result of the truth that the Pink Planet will method the moon from the west and disappear behind its darkened limb, whereas reappearance will then happen on the brilliant facet of the moon’s disk.
Should you reside outdoors of the viewing space for the lunar occultation and like to skywatch in particular person, you’ll nonetheless be handled to a celestial present because the moon and Mars seem shut collectively within the evening sky throughout an occasion often known as an appulse. You could find a desk of viewing occasions and places in our occultation story from earlier this week.
If you wish to get a front-row have a look at the lunar occultation of Mars or the shut method of the Pink Planet and the moon, our guides for the best telescopes and best binoculars are a terrific place to seek out the gear you want. Should you’re trying to take some photographs of the occasion, see our best cameras for astrophotography and best lenses for astrophotography.
Editor’s Be aware: Should you get a terrific picture of the lunar occultation of Mars or the shut method of the Pink Planet and the moon and want to share it with Area.com’s readers, ship your picture(s), feedback, and your title and placement to spacephotos@space.com.
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