CHICAGO (WBBM NEWSRADIO) — Clouds-permitting, you might be able to see the moon pass in front of the planet Mars Wednesday night.
“It’s called an occultation,” said Michelle Nichols, director of public observing at the Adler Planetarium. “Think of it as a little, mini-eclipse.”
Nichols said these lunar occultations happen every couple of years, but they’re not always visible from our location on the globe and don’t always happen at night.
“The moon passes in front of stars all the time but, a lot of times, they’re not bright,” Nichols said. “You don’t really notice. But this time, it’s going to pass in front of a relatively bright plane, so this is something that people can actually see.”
The red planet, looking orange, should be next to the moon until the latter passes in front of Mars at 9:09 pm, for those viewing from the Adler Planetarium. Mars will be there a few minutes sooner for those viewing from west of the lake, and a little later east of the lakefront.
Mars will re-appear a little less than an hour later.
Of course, your view will depend upon how clear or cloudy the skies are.
“There could be a clearish spot right around that 8, 9 o’clock, 10 o’clock hour,” Nichols said. “Just depends on where you are. Luck of the draw.”
In case you’d rather stay inside, the Adler Planetarium will be live on its YouTube channel at 9 p.m. Wednesday.
“We’re going to stick a camera on the telescope, and we’re going to point it at the moon or, at least, where the moon is supposed to be in the sky if there’s any chance of seeing it,” Nichols said.
Nichols said the next time the moon will be passing in front of Mars at night in the Chicago area will be January 2025.
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