How you can watch Mars disappear behind the full moon tonight | 24CA News

If you occur to have clear skies on Wednesday evening, you’ll catch a planet disappearing behind the moon.

The occasion happens at a particular time for Mars. On Wednesday evening, Mars might be instantly reverse the solar’s place within the sky, rising because the solar units and setting because the solar rises. This is known as an opposition and is when Mars is at its brightest within the evening sky.

“Having the moon hide a bright planet is rare,” mentioned Alan Dyer, an novice astronomer and completed astrophotographer who will watch the occasion from his residence close to Strathmore, Alta.

“Having it do so on the very night a planet is at its brightest, as Mars now is, is very unusual. And with the objects so well-placed high in our sky. Fabulous!”

When a planet or a star disappears behind one other object, it is known as an occultation. The subsequent time this occurs between the moon and Mars might be in January 2025, though it is going to be two days earlier than opposition.

When and the place to look

Canada is in a major location for the occasion.

Elaina Hyde, director of the Allan I. Carswell Observatory at York University’s division of physics and astronomy in Toronto, can also be trying ahead to Wednesday evening’s occultation. 

“Tonight, the occultation of Mars by our moon requires a ‘just right’ alignment,” she mentioned. “In fact, not everyone on Earth will even be able to see this one.”

If you need to watch Mars blink out behind the moon, you simply want clear skies. However, binoculars will present a greater view (although, be warned: a full moon is sort of vivid with binoculars or a telescope). 

Because the occultation is between the moon, which is tremendous vivid, and Mars, which is at its brightest, they’re straightforward to search out.

All you need to do is look east to search out the moon. Mars will seem on the left or decrease left, relying in your location.

You can progressively watch the occasion unfold proper after sundown, when the pair might be farther aside. Over the following few hours, the pair will progressively seem to get nearer and nearer. The moon will appear to maneuver to the left as they rise within the sky, finally overtaking Mars. 

How lengthy Mars will keep eclipsed behind the moon is determined by your location: it may very well be a number of minutes or about an hour. This is as a result of it is determined by how a lot of the moon’s disc Mars might want to traverse.

For instance, in Toronto, Mars will solely cross a small fraction of the moon’s decrease disc, starting at 10:29 p.m. ET and re-emerging roughly 45 minutes later. In Edmonton, it’s going to take greater than an hour for the whole occasion.

Here are the approximate occasions when Mars will disappear behind the moon. All occasions are native:

• Vancouver: 6:55 p.m. 
• Edmonton: 8:04 p.m.
• Calgary: 7:59 p.m.
• Regina: 9:01 p.m.
• Saskatoon: 9:03 p.m.
• Winnipeg: 9:05 p.m.
• Toronto: 10:29 p.m.
• Ottawa: 10:36 p.m.
• Montreal: 10:40 p.m.
• Iqaluit: 9:50 p.m.
• Whitehorse: 8:25 p.m.
• Yellowknife: 8:23 p.m.

Thursday:

• Halifax: 12:15 a.m.
• Charlottetown: 12:07 a.m. 
• Moncton: 12:04 a.m. 
• St. John’s: 12:25 a.m.

You can discover extra places right here.

Remember, the occasion happens all evening, so you’ll be able to take a peek outdoors every now and then main as much as the occultation and afterwards because it progresses. 

You can also discover a vivid pink star not too distant from the moon and Mars, however to the precise. That’s Aldebaran, the brightest star within the constellation Taurus.

This pink big lies close to one of the crucial lovely open star clusters within the northern sky, Hyades. In a couple of days’ time, as soon as the moon strikes away from that space of the sky, attempt utilizing a pair of binoculars to take a look at the cluster.

Also, because you’re outdoors on Wednesday evening, why not take a peak to the southwest the place Jupiter might be fairly obvious because the brightest object within the sky (other than the moon). A pair of binoculars may even reveal 4 of its brightest moons, Io, Callisto, Ganymede and Europa.