If you read this in time (Sunday night), go outside and check out the Moon and Mars– they’re very close together. In fact, for some parts of the extreme northwest US and parts of Canada, the Moon passes in front of Mars!
I just saw the fat full Moon rising, and it’s beautiful. I’ll go out again in a little while when it’s higher and see how close together the two are.
Update: If it’s cloudy where you are, BABloggee James mentioned in the comments below that he got a pretty shot he got of them.
If you went to BadAstronomy.com and found yourself here, never fear: the BA Blog has moved to its new home at Discover Blogs. The original BA site (with the Moon Hoax debunking and all that) is still online, too.
Phil Plait, the creator of Bad Astronomy, is an astronomer, lecturer, and author. After ten years working on Hubble Space Telescope and six more working on astronomy education, he struck out on his own as a writer. He has written two books, dozens of magazine articles, and 12 bazillion blog articles. He is a skeptic, and fights misuses of science as well as praising the wonder of real science.
Contact me: The Bad Astronomer "at" gmail "dot" com
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December 23rd, 2007 at 5:23 pm
Sigh….. West Coast of Canada, near Vancouver is socked in with rain and low cloud. It’s been so long since we’ve seen the Sun, Moon or any other heavenly body….
December 23rd, 2007 at 5:28 pm
Better that than Mars passing between the Earth and the moon.
December 23rd, 2007 at 5:37 pm
just my luck, here in Vancouver WA we’d get to see a partial occultation, which would have been amazing except its been raining here non stop too (*&%$*@^$@*&$). sigh, this would have been a wonderful opportunity to try out my new 10″ reflector…
December 23rd, 2007 at 5:45 pm
Lugosi, I had to do a double-take when I read it, that’s what I thought he said. I thought maybe the BA had been dipping into the rum and egg-nog.
December 23rd, 2007 at 5:50 pm
I pulled out my Orion SkyQuest a few minutes ago, the sight was incredible, especially considering that Earth has a presence on both the Moon and Mars.
December 23rd, 2007 at 6:04 pm
It’s snowing where I am in the midwest of the USA, so I doubt I’ll be able to see much.
December 23rd, 2007 at 6:29 pm
I just photographed the two of them from Toronto, one above the other. It took a few tries to get a good shot — clouds were in and out, and the wind was really nasty.
December 23rd, 2007 at 6:45 pm
Bah, where I am right now is work, at least for the next 15 minutes… I’ll post on whether or not I can see the moon, but I doubt it since I think it’s still raining here in CT.
December 23rd, 2007 at 6:47 pm
Heavy rain, wind and clouds.. Nothing to see, here.. *sigh*
December 23rd, 2007 at 6:49 pm
Gahh, I just checked outside, same
Damn NASA for not having a weather-control machine!
December 23rd, 2007 at 6:49 pm
Well, it’s cloudy here so I had to make do with a Starry Night Backyard simulation. Uploaded it to YouTube.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qLhvCgk3w44
The compression they use cuts out a lot of the detail, but you can still get the net effect.
December 23rd, 2007 at 6:50 pm
Yet again, too cloudy.
December 23rd, 2007 at 6:51 pm
It’s pretty cloudy here at the moment, so alas, no Mars for me. I did see a nice bright Mars when I was in Mexico last weekend, though. But it wasn’t near the moon…
December 23rd, 2007 at 6:59 pm
Dammit! I’m in the Delaware Valley, and it’s nowt but clouds!
December 23rd, 2007 at 7:00 pm
I can see it! Surprisingly, it’s not cloudy here (rained most of the day), so the view of the full moon and Mars right next to it is pretty awesome.
December 23rd, 2007 at 7:03 pm
After reading this post I went to the store and looked when I came out. There it was a little bright spot below and to the right of the moon. I told a couple other people who were standing outside what it was and one of them asked, “How do you know”?
I said, cuz I read it on the badastronomy blog.
First time I’ve ever seen mars and knew that’s what it was.
December 23rd, 2007 at 7:08 pm
We have some sort of typhoon blowing through Northeastern Pennsylvania right now, but as I was taking an exit on the way to do some last-minute Christmas shopping, I caught a glimpse of the Moon and Mars through a break in the billowing clouds. I got the impression of the Moon as a great glowing balloon being whipped through the sky, with rust-orange Mars hanging below and to the left (I think) like a gondala carrying hapless passengers along for the ride.
December 23rd, 2007 at 7:15 pm
Reporting from Whitehorse, Yukon…. Socked in – can’t even see a bright spot in the clouds where the moon would be… so a double occultation here, mars behind the moon, behind the clouds….
December 23rd, 2007 at 7:31 pm
Located in Napanee, Ontario, just north of Lake Ontario. The night is clear, and the planets are aligned! (sorry)
Seriously, Mars is approaching the 5 o’clock position on the moon, almost touching it!
This is so frakking cool!
December 23rd, 2007 at 7:35 pm
I was just outside playing frisbee and saw this and decided to check it out (I thought it was just a bright star). Went inside and found out it was mars… wish I had a better telescope!
December 23rd, 2007 at 7:43 pm
Just as well that we’re socked in. I’m not into the occult anyway.
December 23rd, 2007 at 7:58 pm
I just logged on to ask what now seems to be a dumb question. I was on my patio in NE Texas enjoying a cigarette and a beautiful, crisp, clear winter sky when I saw a bright dot next to the nearly full moon. I figured it couldn’t be a star since I could barely make out Orion, so I assumed it had to be a planet. Just wanted to know which one it might be. Ya’ll can color me stupid, but I’m just regular people who likes watch the night sky while the dog (and I) pee in the backyard.
December 23rd, 2007 at 8:25 pm
In Orange County, CA it’s quite clear with the exception of some high, thin clouds. It makes for some pretty impressive views.
I saw the moon and Mars together, but I didn’t know it was Mars at the time. I contacted a friend, and he directed me here. Good stuff.
I better go outside and have another look before it gets too late.
December 23rd, 2007 at 8:36 pm
I’m glad I caught your post in time. I saw it! And took the kids out to look, too. It was a real kick for all of us! Thanks.
December 23rd, 2007 at 10:08 pm
First clear skies in over a week here in TN (missed both the Geminids and the Ursids) but what a sight!! No occultation, but you had to concentrate to see Mars when they were side by side.
It’s really neat, too, to watch the moon fall behind other objects in the sky as the night progresses.
BTW, I noticed that Altair was still up when Orion was rising ( from your earlier post).
December 24th, 2007 at 8:58 am
I was in the car with family, just outside Philly, when I noticed a rather impressive break in the clouds (which had been dumping rain on us all day) that allowed a pretty impressive view of this. I actually hadn’t seen this post before that; but, I remembered an earlier post pointing out that Mars is pretty much at opposition, so I intuited that it must be Mars I was seeing from that.
December 24th, 2007 at 10:24 am
the night sky is gorgeous tonight in w kentucky
December 24th, 2007 at 10:53 am
Saw it last night.
Didn’t know what it was, but thought it must be a planet.
I think that it was a little pink, looking back.
December 24th, 2007 at 11:39 am
I’ve posted a better-processed version of the Moon/Mars shot I mentioned above, if anyone’s curious. Also, Mars itself, as taken with a 400mm lens. Not much to look at, but it is a distinct reddish disc!
December 24th, 2007 at 12:08 pm
I’m in Orange County, too, but I’ve been watching Mars for weeks now. I don’t think there’s anything more glorious in the Northern Hemisphere than the early winter sky, and here it is decorated with a bright red Mars.
When I first saw it, early this evening, Mars and the Moon were side by side. A few hours later they were askew, well separated, and I was a littled surprised, but a brief calculation shows that the moon moves about 1/2 degree per hour across the stellar background.
December 24th, 2007 at 2:16 pm
I saw the two last night, not long after moonrise, with Mars just below the moon.
Then, when both were near the zenith, I saw the two side by side. That came as a surprise to me, until I realized the reason for it (but didn’t do calculations like Bad Jim did).
Ah, the wonders of astronomy!
December 24th, 2007 at 4:24 pm
Here it was just too early. I saw the moon and Mars closed to each other and thought that the moon will go over mars…. but it was far after midnight here in Germany, so I went to bed. Damn!
December 24th, 2007 at 4:56 pm
I saw it , Gorgeous indeed!
December 24th, 2007 at 5:05 pm
I was outside briefly for a few minutes last night about 11:30 (I’m just north of Baltimore). There was a fantastic break in the clouds and Mars was just to the southeast of the moon, far closer than James’ photo showed. Impressive sight– I stopped dead in my tracks and just watched for a few minutes.
December 24th, 2007 at 5:35 pm
We saw it too in B-More and got a picture, a crummy digital camera shot, but cool! There is a wide glow around the moon with Mars barely outside it. I’ve got the picture up on Flikr but can’t figure out how to post it here. How do you guys do that??
December 24th, 2007 at 6:16 pm
It was cloudy here in Northeast Ohio, but in stripes. And framed betweem two of the stripes was the moon and Mars. At the time I wished I had the equipment necessary to photograph it, but it was still beautiful to behold.
December 24th, 2007 at 8:16 pm
After a day of clouds, rain and wind, I got home last night about 9:30pm EST. The wind had blown most of the clouds away, and I had a spectacular view of Mars next to the moon, just to the right. Alas, no photo, but a lovely memory. Looked out again about 3:30 am to see they had separated about one lunar diameter with Mars below the moon. Again, a glorious view.
As I’m writing this, the other side of my brain is wondering. We capitalize the name of the planets (Mars), but not the M/moon? It doesn’t seem right, somehow.
December 24th, 2007 at 8:36 pm
I’d gotten my wires crossed and thought somehow that it was Saturday night, and I’d missed it. So I was pleasantly surprised when, as my wife and I went to meet some friends for dinner, we turned onto the target street and right in front of us was the moon, with a tiny dot just off its lower right.
We could actually see it from our table in the restaurant, and I pointed it out to our friends, one of whom immediately sent his wife a text message (they were visiting from out of town and had accidentally committed to two different gatherings at the same time) so she’d know to look out the window.
Every few minutes, I’d look back at it, and watched as Mars shifted upwards past the moon. (Well, technically the other way around of course, but as far as perception goes, the moon’s a bigger reference point.)
December 24th, 2007 at 10:21 pm
I would like to see a neat astronomical event. Maybe the clouds will
part for Christmas.
Does this situation occur every two years or so?
December 25th, 2007 at 12:25 am
A collection of links to particularly good images of the Moon actually occulting Mars or at least making a very close appulse can be found in the Cosmic Mirror at http://www.astro.uni-bonn.de/~dfischer/mirror/308.html (in the header).
Happy Newton Day to all!
December 25th, 2007 at 4:54 am
I’m in Vail CO and i got a fantastic view. just when I read the post and went out to check it out the sky cleared perfectly and I was able to see them both.
wonderful
December 25th, 2007 at 12:09 pm
I was driving from Whittier, CA (just east of Los Angeles) to Las Vegas, NV (where I live) on Sunday night. We started out just as it started to get dark, about 4:40 PM or so. A few minutes later, I noticed there was a small dot only slightly separated from the moon (at about the 5:00 position), and figured it was Mars due to the earlier post here about Mars being relatively close to us right now.
I pointed it out to my wife (it took her a couple of minutes to find it), and I kept looking at it for the entire drive. Beautiful! I hadn’t brought my camera equipment (just my wife’s, which doesn’t allow enough of an exposure time or ISO adjustment to get really good pictures at night), so unfortunately no pictures. As MJKelleher pointed out above, it still makes for a lovely memory.
By the time we got home (about 9PM), the moon and Mars were separated by 2 to 3 apparent moon diameters.
December 26th, 2007 at 5:46 pm
I too got a nice pic of the Moon and Mars in close proximity, but I used a long exposure so the Moon is overexposed but the background stars are visible (and slightly streaked). I got some quite attractive lens flare off the Moon (or is it those alien spaceships?).
I even created a flickr account so I could share it with the BA Blogees:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/22177653@N03/2137686999/
February 18th, 2008 at 7:37 pm
I saw this happen tonight Monday 2-18,2008 the moon crossed over mars. I was trilled. I went on linet to look it up happened at a little
before 9.00. lakeland florida