BETHLEHEM, Pa. — Brad Klein reviews upcoming astronomical highlights with Bethlehem’s ‘Backyard Astronomy Guy,’ Marty McGuire.
This week, they look back to last month’s occultation of Mars, by the moon.
And, look forward to a close encounter between those two celestial objects in the night sky, next Sunday, February 9.
An ‘occultation’ is when one object passes in front of another in the night sky. Mars has been shining brightly all Winter in the evening sky. And on the night of Jan 13, 2025 the full moon passed directly between Earth and Mars, blocking our view of the ‘red planet’ for over an hour.
Even with the naked eye, the two objects were visible together in the night sky, until the bright moon simply made Mars too hard to see. But using a telescope, McGuire was able, not only to see the moment that Mars disappeared ‘behind’ the moon, but to capture the moment on video.
“It was an amazing event to watch through a telescope,” he said, adding that from his home in Bethlehem, he could even see the polar ice caps on Mars, as well as some surface features due to the clear cold sky.
Mars will be shining brightly in the eastern sky all this month after sunset. But on this Sunday, February 9, it will once again be close to the waxing moon. Not so close as to pass behind our natural satellite. But, if the skies are clear, the moon will easily guide your eye to the bright red planet.
