Astronomy Picture of the Day [1]Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer. 2025 January 18 [2]See Explanation. Clicking on the picture will download the highest resolution version available. Full Moon, Full Mars Image Credit & [3]Copyright: David Bowman Explanation: [4]On January 13 a Full Moon and a Full Mars were close, both bright and opposite the Sun in planet Earth's sky. [5]In fact Mars was occulted, passing behind the Moon, when viewed from some locations in North America and northwest Africa. As seen from Richmond, Virginia, USA, this composite image sequence follows the evening lunar occultation before, during, and after the much anticipated [6]celestial spectacle. The telescopic time series is constructed from an exposure made every two minutes while tracking the Moon over the hours encompassing the event. As a result, the Red Planet's trajectory seems to follow a gently curved path due to the Moon's slightly different rate of apparent motion. The next lunar occultation of bright planet Mars will be on February 9 when the moon is in a waxing gibbous phase. [7]Lunar occultations are only ever visible from a fraction of the Earth's surface, though. [8]The February 9 occultation of Mars will be seen from parts of Russia, China, eastern Canada, Greenland and other (mostly northern) locations, but a close conjunction of a bright Moon with Mars will be more widely visible from planet Earth. Growing Gallery: [9]Moon-Mars Occultation in January 2025 Tomorrow's picture: Touchdown! __________________________________________________________________ [10]< | [11]Archive | [12]Submissions | [13]Index | [14]Search | [15]Calendar | [16]RSS | [17]Education | [18]About APOD | [19]Discuss | [20]> __________________________________________________________________ Authors & editors: [21]Robert Nemiroff ([22]MTU) & [23]Jerry Bonnell ([24]UMCP) NASA Official: Amber Straughn [25]Specific rights apply. [26]NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices A service of: [27]ASD at [28]NASA / [29]GSFC, [30]NASA Science Activation & [31]Michigan Tech. U. References 1. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html 2. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/image/2501/MarsLOc_Jan13.jpg 3. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html#srapply 4. https://earthsky.org/moon-phases/lunar-occultation-of-mars-on-january-13-2025/ 5. https://solarsystem.nasa.gov/skywatching/whats-up/ 6. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap250115.html 7. http://www.lunar-occultations.com/iota/planets/mars.png 8. https://in-the-sky.org/news.php?id=20250209_16_100 9. https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.597841612944420&type=3 10. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap250117.html 11. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html 12. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/apsubmit2015.html 13. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/aptree.html 14. https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/apod/apod_search 15. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/calendar/allyears.html 16. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod.rss 17. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/edlinks.html 18. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html 19. http://asterisk.apod.com/discuss_apod.php?date=250118 20. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap250119.html 21. http://www.phy.mtu.edu/faculty/Nemiroff.html 22. http://www.phy.mtu.edu/ 23. https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/htmltest/jbonnell/www/bonnell.html 24. http://www.astro.umd.edu/ 25. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html#srapply 26. https://www.nasa.gov/about/highlights/HP_Privacy.html 27. https://astrophysics.gsfc.nasa.gov/ 28. https://www.nasa.gov/ 29. https://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/ 30. https://science.nasa.gov/learners 31. http://www.mtu.edu/