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Astronomy Picture of the Day - Wolf Moon Engulfs Mars
NASA ^ | 15 Jan, 2025 | Imran Sultan

Posted on 01/15/2025 11:52:46 AM PST by MtnClimber

Explanation: 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 lasting 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.


TOPICS: Astronomy; Astronomy Picture of the Day; Science
KEYWORDS: apod; nasa
To be added or removed from the Astronomy Picture of the Day ping list please send me a request via "Private Reply" (Mail).

For more detail go to the link and click on the image for a high definition image. You can then move the magnifying glass cursor then click to zoom in and click again to zoom out. When zoomed in you can scan by moving the side bars on the bottom and right side of the image.

1 posted on 01/15/2025 11:52:46 AM PST by MtnClimber
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To: MtnClimber

2 posted on 01/15/2025 11:53:06 AM PST by MtnClimber (For photos of scenery, wildlife and climbing, click on my screen name for my FR home page.)
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To: 21stCenturion; 21twelve; 4everontheRight; A Navy Vet; A_perfect_lady; abb; AFB-XYZ; AFPhys; ...
Pinging the APOD list

🪐 🌟 🌌 🍔

3 posted on 01/15/2025 11:53:49 AM PST by MtnClimber (For photos of scenery, wildlife and climbing, click on my screen name for my FR home page.)
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To: MtnClimber

That’s a term I’ve never heard before. Full moon in January—Wolf Moon. Whatever.


4 posted on 01/15/2025 11:57:15 AM PST by Telepathic Intruder
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To: MtnClimber

Is that for real? How did they get it to focus in two different places?


5 posted on 01/15/2025 12:04:25 PM PST by BenLurkin (The above is not a statement of fact. It is either opinion, or satire, or both.)
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To: BenLurkin

Higher F stops


6 posted on 01/15/2025 12:17:17 PM PST by Hatteras
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To: BenLurkin

Infinity focus for both objects- they’re that far away. I watched it live in my telescope and both were sharp focused. It wasn’t as nice as what the photographer captured, but they were both sharp. Pretty neat.


7 posted on 01/15/2025 12:30:13 PM PST by telescope115 (I NEED MY SPACE!!! 🔭)
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To: MtnClimber

Wow.


8 posted on 01/15/2025 12:45:13 PM PST by No name given ( Anonymous is who you’ll know me as)
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To: MtnClimber

Mars was not harmed.


9 posted on 01/15/2025 12:46:12 PM PST by Verginius Rufus
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To: Hatteras; BenLurkin
Higher F stops

Yep, higher f stops will give near infinite depth of field at that distance. That will lower shutter speed though. And the moon will be moving the most in this image.

10 posted on 01/15/2025 12:48:30 PM PST by MtnClimber (For photos of scenery, wildlife and climbing, click on my screen name for my FR home page.)
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To: MtnClimber; meyer
Wow! Very nice! The orange-red really provides a nice contrast to the black back ground and makes Mars really pop out in this picture! (Is that the ice on one of the poles?)

It only took NASA a day or so to post it to APOD! (And I was standing out in 20F weather with binoculars for this!)

11 posted on 01/15/2025 12:50:23 PM PST by Pete from Shawnee Mission ( )
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To: Pete from Shawnee Mission

Yes, it looks like the white area is one of the poles. Probably frozen CO2, but there could be some water ice under that.


12 posted on 01/15/2025 12:53:57 PM PST by MtnClimber (For photos of scenery, wildlife and climbing, click on my screen name for my FR home page.)
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To: MtnClimber

Hungry like a Wolf?


13 posted on 01/15/2025 1:36:31 PM PST by Tom Tetroxide (Psalm 146:3 "Do not trust in princes, in the son of man, who has no salvation.")
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