In Case you Missed it, Here are Some Amazing Pictures of Mars Hiding Behind the Moon

By Nancy Atkinson December 13, 2022
In Case you Missed it, Here are Some Amazing Pictures of Mars Hiding Behind the Moon

Last week gave us a celestial triple header, all in one night. The Moon was full and Mars was at opposition (at its closest point to Earth). But the pièce de résistance was when the Moon occulted or passed in front of Mars on the evening/morning of December 7th/8th. Our astrophotographer friends were out in full force to capture the event.

Our lead image comes from prolific amateur astronomer and photographer Alan Dyer, who observed the occultation from his home in Alberta, Canada, and created this composite view of the night's activities. "While this composite makes it look like Mars was doing the moving," Dyer explained on Flickr, "it was really the Moon that was passing in front of Mars. But for this sequence I set the telescope mount to track the Moon at its rate of motion against the background stars and Mars, to keep the Moon more or less stationary on the frame while Mars and the background sky passed behind it."

Here are some more great views from around the world:

Andrew McCarthy never disappoints, and his high-resolution view from Arizona is incredible:

https://twitter.com/AJamesMcCarthy/status/1600749501664612353

Here's an amazingly crisp, clear view from Kerrie Ann Gardner in England:

https://twitter.com/KerrieDoodles/status/1600740785682776064

See below for more great images and videos, compiled from Twitter and from Universe Today's community on Flickr.

Mars and Moon close approach 12/7/22. Credit and copyright: Nancy Ricigliano, on Flickr.

https://twitter.com/sjb_astro/status/1600718487890014208

Timelapse of Mars entering conjunction with the Moon, aligned on Moon Dec 8 02:33:05 - 02:37:27 UTC. Canon SX730 150 frames at 960mm EFL, 1/100, F 6.9, ISO 80. Credit and copyright: Farhill on Flickr.

https://twitter.com/einionyn/status/1600725801627942914

https://twitter.com/theskybyeye/status/1600725212525305856

Lunar Occultation of Mars: Mars just leaving the Moon's Shadow. Shot w/ Celestron 127 SLT, Skywatcher EQM-35 Mount & Nikon D7500. 1200 frames over 2 stacks (one for each object), ISO 400, 1/30. Arranged in PIPP, stacked using AS!3 and post processed in Photoshop. Credit and copyright: doug0013 on Flickr.

A composite shot of the occultation of Mars by the Moon in the early hours of 8th December 2022. This image transposes shots of Moon and Mars taken with a Celestron Edge HD11 scope a few hours before the occultation. The images are placed on top of the actual shot to provide a more detailed luminance layer. Credit and copyright: Roger Hutchinson on Flickr.

https://twitter.com/SkyGuyinVA/status/1600863425793499142

Nancy Atkinson

Nancy Atkinson

Nancy Atkinson is a space journalist and author with a passion for telling the stories of people involved in space exploration and astronomy. She is currently retired from daily writing, but worked at Universe Today for 20 years as a writer and editor. She also contributed articles to The Planetary Society, Ad Astra (National Space Society), New Scientist and many other online outlets.

Her 2019 book, "Eight Years to the Moon: The History of the Apollo Missions,” shares the untold stories of engineers and scientists who worked behind the scenes to make the Apollo program so successful, despite the daunting odds against it. Her first book “Incredible Stories From Space: A Behind-the-Scenes Look at the Missions Changing Our View of the Cosmos” (2016) tells the stories of 37 scientists and engineers that work on several current NASA robotic missions to explore the solar system and beyond.

Nancy is also a NASA/JPL Solar System Ambassador, and through this program, she has the opportunity to share her passion of space and astronomy with children and adults through presentations and programs. Nancy's personal website is nancyatkinson.com