Rare full moon eclipse of Mars surprises stargazers with occultation
On Wednesday (Dec. 7), sky watchers around the world were treated to a celestial spectacle as the full moon eclipsed Mars in the night sky.
The rare event, known as a lunar occultation, refers to a celestial body, in this case, March — seeming to disappear or hide behind another — in this case, the moon. This occultation was especially remarkable because Mars was in opposition, viz land was directly between it and the sun, making the Red Planet appear especially bright in the night sky.
Related: See Mars in opposition in these free webcasts tonight (December 8)
The occultation of Mars last night by the full moon produced some magnificent images from observers around the world. The Griffith Observatory in California had a great view the moon and Mars came together on December 7 and captured a time-lapse of the Red Planet disappearing behind celestial companion Earth, as seen in the video above.
In addition, sky watchers around the world have been posting gorgeous images of Mars’ lunar eclipse on social media, offering a glimpse into one of the most watched celestial events of the year.
Astrophotographer Andrew McCarthy took Mars and the full moon (opens in a new tab) in a beautiful close-up:
This is the moment Mars peeked out from behind our moon after being hidden for an hour. This photograph was captured with my largest telescope and a special high-speed camera. Seeing another planet rising on the horizon of our moon was such a surreal experience. pic.twitter.com/8IctbVXuUMDecember 8, 2022
Spaceflight photographer John Kraus captured one impressive photo of Mars (opens in a new tab) as it appeared behind the moon after occultation:
Amateur astrophotographer Tom Williams produced a gorgeous image of the moon and Mars by combining several photographs and offered an explanation of how he made the image (opens in a new tab) on Twitter.
The #MoonOccultation of #Mars in 2022! This is a crop of a larger image and shows the red planet in its descent behind the eastern lunar limb captured last night from home. Sinus Gomer is central with Syrtis Major at the top. See thread for processing. What an event! #astrophotography pic.twitter.com/IBNiW8mA9cDecember 8, 2022
Astronomer and amateur photographer Tom Glenn produced a stunning image of mars (opens in a new tab) rising above the moon by stacking 15 different photo frames.
#Mars rising above lunar limbo. This is a stack of 15 frames captured at 2 second intervals during the end of occultation by the #Moon. Captured with a C9.25 Edge HD and ASI678mc. pic.twitter.com/xrDiI3d7keDecember 8, 2022
Astronomer and science communicator Phil Plait caught on Mars creeping behind the moon (opens in a new tab) just before hiding.
The Moon and Mars a few minutes before #occultation. I shot this through my bedroom window using my telescope and a camera phone (hence the strong reflection from the Moon in the upper left). Look at the color contrast! Hiding was great taki… https://t.co/lpxYVpmbmi pic.twitter.com/SUISrvttx7December 8, 2022
The lunar occultation of Mars by the full Cold Moon was especially remarkable because the Red Planet only appears in opposition every 26 months, so the next opposition will not occur until January 2025.
Mars was also particularly close to Earth during this event, which occurred while the planet was at perigee, or the 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 kilometers); according to NASA, Mars and Earth won’t be this close for another 265 years, until 2287.
Editor’s note: If you take a great photo of Mars in opposition or a lunar eclipse and want to share it with Space.com readers, send your photos, comments, and your name and location to [email protected].
Editor’s note: This piece was updated at 4:30 pm EST (2130 GMT) on December 8 to indicate that the record for Mars’ closest approach to Earth was set in 2003.
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