Today was a big day for amateur astronomers, because the Moon was going to occult (which means to hide) the planet Mars! In this photograph, Mars is the tiny orange dot near the lower left of the Moon. The bummer was the forecast was for overcast skies. We had great good fortune and the skies cleared before the occultation happened. When the Moon rose tonight the planet Mars was about 2 degrees below it. You could see Mars with your naked eye. I watched the Moon keep moving closer and closer to Mars over several hours. I photographed it until this point then took the camera off and put in an eyepiece so that I could watch the event with my eye as the Moon covered Mars.
About an hour and 15 minutes later Mars emerged from behind the Moon and it was so cool to watch a tiny orange "bump" appear on the edge of the Moon and then keep coming untl the whole disk of Mars emerged and slowly drifted away. What a thrill to see this. It only happens about every 14 years, more or less. Please be sure to click on each photograph!
3 comments:
Im happy the skies cleared so you could enjoy this amazing experience and capture some photos for us. Joan
Great photos of mars near the moon. What an incredible sight! Trace
Oh my gosh! This is amazing. So glad that you had clear skies so you could see it and photograph it. And then share it with us. Thank you. Betsey
Post a Comment