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

By Nancy Atkinson - December 13, 2022 03:27 PM UTC | Planetary Science

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:

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

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

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.

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