When the moon hid Mars

[ilan]

Photos: When the moon hid Mars
Deborah Byrd in ASTRONOMY ESSENTIALS | TODAY'S IMAGE | February 19, 2020

The moon will cover Mars 5 times in 2020, but the occultation on February 18, 2020, was the only one accessible to viewers in much of North and Central America. Photos from the EarthSky Community here.

Raul Cortes in Monterrey, Mexico, tried to capture the moment the moon passed in front of Mars, but clouds got in his way. He wrote: “Trying to capture the Mars occultation. This was as far as I could go. After that moment, the moon and Mars were completely covered by clouds. Could not see the exact moment when the occultation occurred.” Beautiful shot, though, Raul! Thank you. Raul has a slightly earlier photo of the near-occultation, with Mars slightly farther from the moon but more clearly visible, here. For those in the mountain states of the U.S., it wasn’t possible to see Mars at the moment it went behind the moon (the moon and Mars had not risen yet). But many caught the moment Mars came out from behind the moon’s darkened limb. Geraint Smith in San Cristobal, New Mexico, captured this scene as Mars crept out from behind the moon and through the clouds. Thank you, Geraint! Mars – as it came out from behind the moon – as captured in Tucson, Arizona, on February 18, 2020, by Eliot Herman. Eliot used a Questar telescope and a Nikon D850 to capture the scene at 5:40 a.m. Mountain Time. Thanks, Eliot! Ken Gallagher in Lake Havasu City, Arizona, wrote: “Overslept and missed beginning of occultation, but just in time to catch the end.” Super! Thanks, Ken!