The full moon will sweep past Jupiter this month and will also cover Mars completely this week in a process called an occultation. The event is most visible in the Americas except for those on the Southeast and East Coast where the Moon can be seen grazing closely past Mars.
Despite reaching opposition on December 7 (December 8 in other parts of the world), the Sky and Telescope reported that the closest Mars has gotten to Earth was on December 1 when the two planets are just 50.61 miles (81.45 kilometers) apart. The two dates do not coincide with the elliptical orbit of Mars that further removes it from Earth and catch up to join the opposition.
Where To See the Lunar Occultation?
Those who are located north and west of a line that runs from Piedras Negras, Mexico to Louisville, Kentucky to Seabrook, New Hampshire will have a visible view of the moon eclipsing Mars, as per Space.com. Meanwhile, those who are in the south and east of the line will not be able to see the Moon occult Mars as they are in the position where the planet barely passes above it.
However, those who are fortuitously positioned on or adjacent to that line could see the lower part of the Moon grazing Mars as it passes by. More so, those fortuitously situated along the northern edge of the path would be able to see the planet's dazzling topaz disk disappear completely and then reappear in lunar valleys. But those on the southern edge of the path will only see Mars briefly touch the Moon.
In the US, the towns and cities that will be lucky to witness the Moon eclipsing Mars are Morgantown in West Virginia, Scranton in Pennsylvania, Hudson in New York, Northampton in Massachusetts, Lowell in Massachusetts, and Seabrook in New Hampshire.
Mars will appear as a small disk when viewed in telescopes due to its relatively large angular size in which the occultation will occur at a rather "leisurely" pace that stargazers will enjoy. That means the occultation will last for about 40 seconds to a minute or even longer.
But those who are in Austin will have two minutes to view the Moon's slow eastward drift to completely cover and uncover the Red Planet's disk. It could take even longer for those in the south and closer to the northern limit of the graze path.
READ ALSO : Moon Plays Crucial Role in Life on Earth, Could Potentially Determine What Makes A Planet Habitable
December 2022 Evening Highlights
According to SciTech Daily, one of the things to watch out for in December is its evening highlights. One of them is when the Moon appeared too close to the brilliant planet Jupiter on December 1, and the upcoming event of the full moon occultation on December 7 when it will cover up Mars.
The following Wednesday's event will be on December 23 for the New Moon. Then from Christmas Day to the last day of the year, on December 31, the full Moon will slide past Saturn starting on the 26th then past Jupiter on the 28th.
But all month long, December is a month for the constellation Pegasus to be high in the south-southwest after dark. Stargazers should only look for the bright Jupiter and find the Square of Pegasus about 15 degrees above it.
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