Mars occultation by the Moon (1 Viewer)

[Binastro]

At around 4.50 a.m. UT (GMT) on December 8 in the U.K. there is an occultation of bright Mars by the Moon.

Binoculars should be ideal to view this.

Times vary.

I am not sure of U.S. times, but this event is widely visible.
Check local times.

Mars reappears about an hour later in the U.K.

Regards,
B.

P.S.
Apparently, most of the U.S. will see this tonight December 7 except the southeast part of the U.S.

 

[jring]

Hi,

no need to get up early over here according to the weather forecast :-(

Joachim

 

[Ted Y.]

For Canada, here

 

[lilcrazy2]

not visible where I live👎

 

[tenex]

Nice view from here. Separation now increasing. About an hour ago they were quite close and beautiful in a scope around 60x. Could hardly notice any color in Mars, the Moon was so much brighter.

 

[connorco]

Could see it pretty well here in California. Had both mars and the moon in the same scope view at 60x

 

[William Lewis]

I've been hoping the weather clears out - for a fortnight before Tuesday night we had constant cloud in my bit of England! I didn't think I'd see the opposition period at all. Thankfully the last few night have been really clear with decent seeing, hardly any boiling on mars last night at 188x in the 8" dob. Bit bright with the moon for the slc 8x56's to do there deep sky trick - I tend to use them in tandem with the dob, find something fuzzy and interesting with the slc's and see what it is with the dob.

Will

 

[Binastro]

Cloudless all night and today.

I just used 8x32BA and Swift HR/5 8.5x44 binoculars.

Also Canon SX730 and G16 cameras.

It was minus 2C or 28F ~1010hPa.
A lot of frost on cars and roof.
A fox was walking along the road.

Mars was at opposition and the Moon was full.

Beautiful sunny day now about 2C.

Regards,
B.

 

[William Lewis]

Cloudless all night and today.

I just used 8x32BA and Swift HR/5 8.5x44 binoculars.

Also Canon SX730 and G16 cameras.

It was minus 2C or 28F ~1010hPa.
A lot of frost on cars and roof.
A fox was walking along the road.

Mars was at opposition and the Moon was full.

Beautiful sunny day now about 2C.

Regards,
B.

Love to see any photos you have, I was tucked up in bed and woke up to see it the other side of Luna on my way to work, still close by around 7am. More tonight.

 

[yarrellii]

Woke up at 6 AM on a national holiday... Only to see an unusual amount of clouds XD

 

[Scott98]

The clouds parted to reveal Mars just off the Moon's disk here. I missed the occultation/grazing but the view was still beautiful in my 10x56. Mars was so close it was invisible to the naked eye but the binoculars showed it.

Got me thinking - is it a good idea to stare at the Moon in 56mm binoculars? I'm thinking maybe not....I could still see the burning afterglow on my retina for a long time afterwards. Probably best to stick to 42mm or less on a full moon....it's like an "ice cream headache" for your eyes

 

[dries1]

Need more cowbell, I mean filters for the 56.