Greetings from San Cristobal, NM. Two days before, I’d heard that the lunar occultation (covering) of mars by the moon, was imminent, that it would begin and end between 9 to 11 pm MST. It turns out that here in northern NM, we would be on the periphery of the viewable range, in other words, we are too far north and will possibly, see Mars skirt the edge of the moon. As the evening went on, I became frustrated with the event, the frigid temps dwindling batteries, and cold hands. After a few trips indoors to warm up, I was ready to call it a night.
Here’s the first shot of the moon and Mars when I saw it. The moon’s direction of travel in the first image is from the lower to the upper part of the frame. Is there an up and down in space? Click to enlarge.
After a lengthy warm-up by the woodstove cupping a glass of whisky, I went back to the camera set up on the deck, got the moon in my viewfinder, and spotted Mars about to vanish behind the moon. Mars is on the upper right edge of the moon.
Here’s a close-up of the planet Mars emerging. The time frame of this event was about 20 minutes. Time on the deck from start to finish 2.5 hours.
You can read more about the occultation here.
Lastly this week, I have to share the birds Three crows, eyes left!
One of a very large flock of Pinyon Jays in the garden this week. They emptied the bird feed in twenty minutes. This bird was waiting for it’s opportunity to feed but it doesn’t look very enthusiastic.
As always, thanks for looking and for all your kind words and compliments.
20 thoughts on “Lunar Occultation of Mars. Night Sky, 02-01-2023”
Thanks for delightful share of the Mars Occultation and bonus photo ❣️
Thank you Mara. I’m glad you caught a glimpse of it yourself. G
The occultation photo is really impressive, thanks Geraint………Jay Schlegel
Thank you, Jay. I hope you are well. G
Just gorgeous as always. Love to escape the crazy world & get lost in your art! Thank you!
Thank you, Patrice, that’s a really nice compliment. G
Wow! It’s amazing you saw tiny Mars. I need to look up occultation…. Thanks for freezing your fingers off, Geraint. Much appreciated.
Thank you so much, Jo. I own a decent telephoto lens and have been looking up since I was a kid. Now we have apps, back then there were paper maps of the starry sky. G
Love the photos, and figure a lot of people ran to google to verify that the root of occulation is indeed “occult.” Now even less is hidden!! Take care.
I like your observation, I had to look it up the first time too. But hey all is revealed in time. Thank you, Jim. Keep your posts coming. G
Great shots, thank you.
Thanks so much, Larry. Keep your bird photos coming. G
thanks
Thank you, Ron. G
Hi Geraint .. very impressed with your photos of the moon and mars.. you are lucky to have been able to have your set up on your deck, where, as you can sneak in and get warm, and come back out again. Have a great day…. Carol
We also have great views all around and dark skies with very little sky pollution. I was definitely thankful for the warm fire. Thank so much, Carol. G
Hi Thankyou for sticking with it. Cold but as always amazing.
Mostly the genetic arthritis in my fingers hurt when it’s extremely cold. I’m glad I stayed up and out there. Thank you, Alison. G
Excellent set of photos (both moon/mars and birds). Truth be told, I’m not surprised. I think all your work is great.
Thank you for your compliments, Bob. I greatly appreciate them. Stay well. G