January 15, 2025
In the grand ledger of cosmic time, a human life is breathtakingly brief. But brevity is not insignificance.
Wolf Moon Engulfs Mars
Birthday · January 15, 2025
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APOD published January 15, 2025. Credit: Imran Sultan. A publication-date match, not a photo taken on your date. Independent of NASA.
Does the Moon ever engulf Mars? Yes, but only in the sense that it moves in front, which happens on rare occasions. This happened just yesterday, though, as seen from some locations in North America and western Africa. This occultation was notable not only because the Moon was a fully lit Wolf Moon, but because Mars was near its largest and brightest, moving to opposition -- the closest to the Earth in its orbit -- only tomorrow. The engulfing, more formally called an occultation, typically lasts about an hour. The featured image was taken from near Chicago, Illinois, USA just as Earth's largest satellite was angularly moving away from the much more distant red planet. Our Moon occasionally moves in front of all of the Solar System's planets. Given the temporary alignment of orbital planes, the next time our Moon eclipses Mars will be a relatively soon February 9. Growing Gallery: Moon-Mars Occultation in January 2025
Image credit: Imran Sultan