An illustration of the evening sky on Monday (Jan. 30) displaying the shut strategy of Mars and the moon.
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, throughout which the moon will go in entrance of Mars from the angle of Earth .
Sadly solely a small swath of the planet will have the ability to see the occultation, however that does embrace the southern United States, from southern California all the way in which to northern Florida, and as far north as Oklahoma, in line with skywatching web site In-the-sky.org. (opens in new tab) Different viewing areas embrace Mexico, the Caribbean, Central American, and northwestern South America. A full record of viewing instances by location for each the lunar occultation of Mars and the appulse of the moon and the Pink Planet may be discovered on Area.com courtesy of veteran skywatcher Joe Rao.
For many who cannot see the occasion in individual, 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 web site (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: Do not miss the moon eclipse Mars subsequent week on Monday (Jan. 30)
TOP TELESCOPE PICK: (Picture credit score: Celestron) Need to get a great luck on the lunar occultation of Mars? We advocate the Celestron Astro Fi 102 (opens in new tab) as the highest decide in our greatest newbie’s telescope information.
For many who stay exterior the zone of visibility of the lunar occultation, you may nonetheless have the ability to witness the conjunction of the moon and Mars, as the 2 celestial our bodies will share the identical proper ascension (celestial equal of latitude) in an association often known as a conjunction. They will even be making a detailed strategy, often known as an appulse.
From New York Metropolis, the moon and Mars shall be simply one-tenth of a level aside, in line 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), they usually’ll have the ability to match inside the subject 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 part, its floor shall be 74 % illuminated from the angle of Earth. It will likely be fairly shiny with a magnitude of -12.3, whereas Mars shall be considerably much less shiny at magnitude -0.3.
Each the moon and Mars shall be much less shiny than they had been throughout their final occultation, which occurred in December 2022 throughout a full moon .
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If it’s good to gear up for tonight’s occultation (or conjunction or appulse) of the moon and Mars, we have ready guides to the perfect telescopes and finest binoculars that can assist you out. And for astrophotographers — budding or skilled — we have additionally rated the perfect cameras for astrophotography and the perfect lenses for astrophotography and put collectively a information on how you can {photograph} the moon.
Editor’s Observe: If you happen to get an incredible picture of the shut strategy or conjunction between Mars and the moon and wish to share it with Area.com’s readers, ship your picture(s), feedback, and your identify and placement to spacephotos@house.com.
