It is time to take the telescope out.
On Monday evening (Jan. 30), the moon will eclipse Mars in what’s often known as an occultation — the moon will move in entrance of Mars from the attitude of Earth.
Sadly solely a small swath of the planet will have the ability to see the occultation, however that does embody the southern United States, from southern California all the way in which to northern Florida, and as far north as Oklahoma, in keeping with skywatching website In-the-sky.org. (opens in new tab) Different viewing areas embody Mexico, the Caribbean, Central American, and northwestern South America. A full checklist of viewing instances by location for each the lunar occultation of Mars and the appulse of the moon and the Purple Planet may be found on Space.com courtesy of veteran skywatcher Joe Rao.
For many who cannot see the occasion in particular person, the Griffith Observatory in Los Angeles is internet hosting a free on-line livestream of the lunar occultation of Mars 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)
For many who dwell exterior the zone of visibility of the lunar occultation, you will nonetheless have the ability to witness the conjunction of the moon and Mars, as the 2 celestial our bodies will share the identical right ascension (celestial equal of latitude) in an association often known as a conjunction. They will even be making an in depth strategy, often known as an appulse.
From New York Metropolis, the moon and Mars shall be simply one-tenth of a level aside, in keeping with In-the-sky.org (opens in new tab). The duo shall be seen from 12:10 p.m. EST (1710 GMT) till 3:23 a.m. EST (0823 GMT), and so they’ll have the ability to match throughout the area of view of a telescope. You may additionally have the ability to see the pair with binoculars and the bare eye.
As a 10-day-old moon in its waxing gibbous phase, its floor shall be 74 p.c illuminated from the attitude of Earth. Will probably be fairly vivid with a magnitude of -12.3, whereas Mars shall be considerably much less vivid at magnitude -0.3.
Each the moon and Mars shall be much less vivid than they have been throughout their final occultation, which occurred in December 2022 during a full moon.
Associated: What is the moon phase today? Lunar phases 2023
If you should gear up for tonight’s occultation (or conjunction or appulse) of the moon and Mars, we have ready guides to the best telescopes and best binoculars that can assist you out. And for astrophotographers — budding or skilled — we have additionally rated the best cameras for astrophotography and the best lenses for astrophotography and put collectively a information on how to photograph the moon.
Editor’s Notice: If you happen to get an ideal photograph of the shut strategy or conjunction between Mars and the moon and wish to share it with Area.com’s readers, ship your photograph(s), feedback, and your identify and site to spacephotos@space.com.
Observe Stefanie Waldek on Twitter @StefanieWaldek (opens in new tab). Observe us @Spacedotcom (opens in new tab), or on Facebook (opens in new tab) and Instagram (opens in new tab).
