Sky & Telescope - December 2022 - 49

STELLARIUM
A Moon and Mars
Close Call
The Moon
Occults Mars
AS THOUGH THE FULL MOON were
jealous of all the attention Mars
receives this month, it briefly removes
the Red Planet from the sky. On the
night of December 7-8, much of North
America, northern Mexico, Greenland,
Iceland, northern Africa, and most of
Europe get to enjoy a remarkable occultation
as the Moon passes in front of
Mars. The occultation occurs during the
evening hours in the U.S. and promises
to be a spectacular and widely observed
event. Mars is so bright it should be
plainly visible to the naked eye, pinned
The Moon Meets Mars
Location
New Orleans, LA
Huntsville, AL
Miami, FL
Jacksonville, FL
Atlanta, GA
Columbia, SC
Knoxville, TN
Charlotte, NC
Virginia Beach, VA
Washington, DC
Philadelphia, PA
New York, NY
Boston, MA
San Juan, Puerto Rico
Hamilton, Bermuda
Time Zone
CST
CST
EST
EST
EST
EST
EST
EST
EST
EST
EST
EST
EST
AST
AST
* Calendar date is December 8th.
sk yand tele scope .o r g * DECEMBER 2022 49
The Moon and Mars appear to almost touch
moments before the occultation in this simulation
of the event for Fargo, North Dakota, on
December 7th at 9:01 p.m. local time.
to the lunar limb just before it vanishes
from view, and again later when it
returns. Unlike a star, which disappears
in a wink, it will take many seconds for
the Moon to cover Mars - more than a
minute as viewed from Dallas, Texas!
For further details, including times
of disappearance and reappearance
for many cities, go to https://is.gd/
marsoccultation2022.
While many locations will enjoy
the sight of the full Moon occulting
Mars, a swath of the southeastern
U.S., including the Atlantic
seaboard, lies outside of the
occultation zone and instead will
be treated to the stunning and
rare sight of the planet skimming
along the lower edge of the lunar
disk. The last time a similar event
occurred was during the early
morning hours of July 17, 2003.
The December 7-8 encounter will
instead happen in " prime time "
with potentially a much larger
viewing audience.
In the table below-left, circumstances
are provided for
15 locations. From downtown
Boston, for example, where the
southern limit of the occultation
tracks just 30 km to the north,
the separation between the
Moon and planet is less than 1′
at 11:01 p.m. EST. In the table,
PA indicates the position angle
of Mars relative to the Moon's
disk (measured clockwise from
the top of the Moon), and Alt is
the altitude of the Moon above
the horizon.
Closest
9:11 p.m.
9:23 p.m.
10:16 p.m.
10:23 p.m.
10:26 p.m.
10:31 p.m.
10:31 p.m.
10:36 p.m.
10:46 p.m.
10:46 p.m.
10:51 p.m.
10:56 p.m.
11:01 p.m.
11:51 p.m.
12:06 a.m.*
Sep
3′
1′
11′
7′
3′
4′
1′
3′
4′
2′
1′
1′
1′
23′
11′
PA
141°
148°
161°
158°
151°
159°
154°
160°
170°
166°
172°
173°
180°
192°
199°
Alt
54°
59°
64°
64°
62°
66°
63°
66°
69°
69°
70°
71°
71°
82°
83°
How often does the Moon
eclipse Mars? On a worldwide
basis, simulations turn up 61
occultations of the Red Planet
between 2010 and 2040. But
if we confine our search to a
specific location and only include
instances when the Sun is below
the horizon, such an event occurs
on average once every 14 years.
The next favorable occultation
of Mars for North America will
take place on January 14, 2025,
at around 4h UT. The Moon will
be a waning gibbous, about 6
hours past full. Mars comes to
opposition just two days later.
-JOE RAO
https://www.is.gd/ https://skyandtelescope.org/
Sky & Telescope - December 2022

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Sky & Telescope - December 2022
