Steve’s Virtual Planet

The Great Mars coverup!

Yes, that’s right, Mars is going to disappear!! Well, I am teasing a bit, of course - The Red Planet is actually going to be hidden by Earth’s Moon a short time in a phenomenon known as an occultation. This happens when one celestial object blocks the view of another. Our Moon does this quite regularly and the events are quite predictable. The other object can be a planet, but is more frequently a well know star or cluster.

The event will be visible over most of North America on Monday, January 13. The event takes place from around 9:00PM to 10:30PM EST, if you’re in the US Eastern Time zone. See the AL document below for times over the rest of the US.

I first caught the news about this from SpaceWeather.com on their January 9 posting. The clever people over at In-The-Sky.org have a great blog on this event with lots of details and timings. Plus, the Astronomical League (AL) has produced a single page PDF work sheet you can download. You can check out these resources and get situated for the event and view it naked eye or through binoculars. Even if its a chilly night, it will only take 10-15 minutes to watch the start, then duck in side for a hot drink before seeing Mars reappear about an hour later. Gook luck!