Tonight’s full moon is coming into visibility and lighting up LA skies on the evening of Wednesday, December 7th.
Simultaneously, a lunar occultation of Mars will begin just after sundown on December 7th, according to Space.com. An occultation occurs when one object is hidden by another object that’s passing between it and the observer. In this case, the moon will move in front of Mars, temporarily hiding the red planet from view.
However, as the moon continues along the ecliptic and Mars reappears, the planet will look brighter than normal. That’s because Mars will be in opposition starting early Thursday morning. This means Mars and the sun will be directly on opposite sides of Earth. Such an event only occurs about every two years.
See Mars at opposition join the full moon in the sky tonight (Dec. 7) https://t.co/mubW6u3qzy pic.twitter.com/BTGU6f1dFw
— SPACE.com (@SPACEdotcom) December 7, 2022
Be sure to look to the skies at 6:30 P.M. PST to witness this event. Mars will reappear around 7:30 P.M. The entire celestial spectacle might be difficult to witness with the naked eye due to the brightness of the full Moon. In case of this, you can also can watch a livestream here, courtesy of the Griffith Observatory.
Tonight’s full moon, dubbed the ‘Cold Moon,’ will start to be visible just before sunset, notes The Old Farmer’s Almanac. The name comes from the Mohwak people, referring to the chilling temperatures common for this time of year.
So get ready for a dazzling lunar experience you won’t want to miss!