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Credit & Copyright: Tomas Slovinsky
Explanation:
On
December 8
a full Moon and a full Mars were close,
both bright and opposite the Sun in planet Earth's sky.
In fact
Mars was occulted, passing behind the Moon when
viewed from some locations across Europe and North America.
Seen from the city of Kosice in eastern Slovakia,
the lunar occultation of Mars happened just before sunrise.
The tantalizing
spectacle
was recorded in this telescopic timelapse
sequence of exposures.
It took about an hour for the
Red Planet to disappear behind the
lunar disk and
then reappear as a
warm-hued full Moon,
the last full Moon of 2022, sank toward the western horizon.
The next lunar occultation of bright planet Mars will be in the new year
on January 3, when the Moon is in a waxing gibbous phase.
Lunar occultations
are only ever visible from a fraction of the
Earth's surface, though.
The January 3 occultation
of Mars will be visible from parts of the
South Atlantic, southern Africa, and the Indian Ocean.
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NASA Web Site Statements, Warnings, and Disclaimers
NASA Official: Jay Norris. Specific rights apply.
A service of: LHEA at NASA / GSFC
& Michigan Tech. U.
Based on Astronomy Picture
Of the Day
Publications with keywords: Moon - Mars
Publications with words: Moon - Mars
See also: