Rare lunar occultation of Mars on Saturday

UDUPI : A rare sight awaits astro-enthusiasts on Saturday when the crescent moon comes directly between Earth and Mars, leading to a rare occultation. Around 5 pm, sky gazers can notice a tiny shining dot — Mars, very close to the Moon. Within minutes, Mars will disappear, with the Moon hiding it. This lunar occultation of Mars will be visible in India only, informed Atul Bhat, coordinator of Poornaprajna Amateur Astronomers’ Club, Udupi on Friday.

Bhat said that in this occultation, the moon shall cover Mars completely for an hour and a half. ‘’Each month, the Moon passes very close to Mars with only a few degrees of space between the two as viewed from earth.

As we see the pair from earth, this space between them varies from place to place. During certain lunar conjunctions with mars, depending upon where one observes this from, the Moon will appear to pass in front of Mars and cause an eclipse of Mars, which is called ‘Lunar Occultation of Mars’.

In the past few months, such occultations have occurred, but were visible only from certain parts of Earth. With the previous lunar occultation visible from Africa and South America respectively, Saturday’s lunar occultation will be visible from across the country, Atul Bhat added. 

“It will appear as if Mars has vanished from the sky around 5.08 pm at Udupi and Dakshina Kannada. As the sun sets and darkness arrives, around 6.55 pm, the red planet - Mars will reappear from the bright side of the moon, completing the occultation,” Bhat added.