How To See Moon Cover Mars In ‘Lunar Occultation’ Wednesday

ACROSS AMERICA — A “lunar occultation” — a rare astronomical event in which the moon passes in front of a planet and obliterates it from view — will occur Wednesday evening. You’ll be able to see it with the naked eye, weather permitting.

The December full cold moon will cover Mars for about an hour during the occultation, which will be visible across the country except for the Southeast and East Coast, where it will graze closely past the red planet.

The spectacle starts about an hour after sunset in North America, where it’s a prime time event. Take a look near the Taurus constellation.

Here are the times the moon will be hidden in a handful of U.S. cities, according to a guide put together by Sky & Telescope:

• Los Angeles, California: 6:30 p.m. PST-7:30 p.m. PST
• Seattle, Washington: 6:52 p.m. PST-7:51 p.m. PST
• Phoenix, Arizona: 7:32 p.m. MST-8:31 p.m. MST
• Denver, Colorado: 7:45 p.m. MST-8:48 p.m. MST
• St. Louis, Missouri: 9:06 p.m. CST-9:52 p.m. CST
• Chicago, Illinois: 9:11 p.m. CST-10:05 p.m. CST

Cities outside the occultation zone will still be able to see Mars as it brushes past the moon, also according to Sky & Telescope.

• New Orleans, Louisiana: 9:11 p.m. CST
• Huntsville, Alabama: 9:23 p.m. CST
• Miami, Florida: 10:16 p.m. EST
• Atlanta, Georgia: 10:26 p.m. EST
• Washington, DC: 10:46 p.m. EST
• New York, New York: 10:56 p.m. EST
• Boston, Massachusetts: 11:01 p.m. EST

Mars has been spectacular for the past several weeks as it approaches its bright opposition with the sun on Thursday, when it will look bigger, brighter and more red than usual.

• Related: Geminid Meteor Showers, Mars At Opposition, More December Skywatching

All planets orbit the sun, but the Red Planet is pokey compared with Earth, taking about twice the amount of time in its trip around the sun as our planet. Because of that, Mars and Earth are sometimes very far apart in their orbits, and Mars appears as a very bright star. But when they catch up, as they are this year, Mars shines with an apparent magnitude of about -1.9 magnitude through early December.

“During opposition, Mars and the sun are on directly opposite sides of Earth,” NASA explains. “From our perspective on our spinning world, Mars rises in the east just as the sun sets in the west. Then, after staying up in the sky the entire night, Mars sets in the west just as the sun rises in the east. Since Mars and the sun appear on opposite sides of the sky, we say that Mars is in ‘opposition.’ ”

Mars begins to lose some of its brilliance, dimming to around a -1.4 apparent magnitude by the end of the month.

As many as five planets will be visible to the naked eye later this month. Jupiter will shine brightly in the south in the evening sky, and yellowish Saturn is lower and to the bigger planet’s west.

Later in the month, mercury will be visible for about 30 or 45 minutes after sunset very low in the western sky; and super-bright Venus and bright Mercury are near each other in the dusk.

On Christmas, the four planets will appear in the sky near the waxing crescent moon. Mercury will appear as a faint spot in the southwest sky, and the much-brighter Venus will appear closer to the horizon. Jupiter and Saturn will both also be visible on the opposite side of the moon, while Mars will be closer to the northeastern part of the sky in the evening.

There are plenty of other reasons to look up at the sky in December, including with the hope of seeing the most anticipated meteor shower of the year, the Geminids, as they build toward their Dec. 13-14 peak. The Geminid meteor shower produces up to 120 multicolored meteors an hour late into the evenings.

Later in the month, the Ursid meteor shower peaks Dec. 21-22 and runs through Dec. 24, about the same time the fireball-producing Quadrantids start to fly. The unpredictable Quadrantids, which peak Jan. 4, have the potential to be the strongest meteor shower of the year, but poor weather conditions often deter all but the most faithful of skywatchers.