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Moon to Eclipse Mars Tonight

Posted on: Wednesday, 16 July 2003, 06:00 CDT

by MICHAEL HOPKIN

Lunar conjunction comes as Mars gains brilliant brightness

Nature -- The Caribbean skies will host a rare spectacle tonight when the Moon eclipses Mars. The event comes as a prelude to the red planet's closest Earth approach in 60,000 years.

Onlookers in Florida, Central America and northwestern South America should see the bright red dot of Mars disappear behind the Moon's much larger disc in the early hours of Thursday morning.

In Panama City the effect - called an occultation - will last around 90 minutes. Viewers elsewhere will see a shorter eclipse. In Miami, for example, Mars will disappear at 4:14 am EDT, reappearing 27 minutes later.

But those on the edge of the zone stand to see the best show. Mars will seem to graze the Moon as the two glide past one another. A telescope will reveal the ruby glow of Mars as it peeps between the lunar mountains.

For the rest of North America, Mars and the Moon will appear simply to pass very close to one another - an event called a conjunction. For most, this will happen in darkness or during morning twilight.

The Moon eclipses Mars a couple of times each year, on average. What makes this occultation worth watching is that it will take place in darkness, with Mars unusually radiant.

The unusual proximity of Mars makes it particularly visible at the moment. Its brightness will peak towards the end of next month, when it will come within 55 million kilometres of Earth. During August, the red planet will outshine even Jupiter.

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© Nature News Service / Macmillan Magazines Ltd 2003

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