Family Time with Mars

ALAN’S ANECDOTES

Over the weekend I saw an astronomy alert. Monday night (January 13th) there would be a rare occurrence to observe. The moon would pass in front of the planet Mars. When an object passes in front of another object in the night sky, it’s called an “occultation.” This would be a Lunar occultation of Mars.

I’ve seen a couple occultations in the past. Both were occultations of Saturn. It was an amazing sight to see the moon pass in front of the planet and see Saturn’s rings sticking out of the moon. I’ll never forget it. I got out my telescope and had a front-row seat to the spectacle.

I lost a little enthusiasm this time after checking the weather. It was expected to be cloudy with a chance of snow. The temperature was to be in the upper twenties, so that was good for this time of year. The other problem is that the moon is nearly full, so it will make everything else dimmer, including Mars. But I was still excited enough to invite my sister and family to join us if they wanted to.

Monday came and I started getting ready. My telescope was right where I left it, and I knew where my binoculars were. I looked at the telescope and realized that the box with the lenses wasn’t with it. That’s a problem. I always keep them together so they will be ready to go. But the box was nowhere to be seen. I looked all over the house and even got the kids involved. No luck.

I looked out periodically to see where the moon was and if the weather was cooperating. At times the haze blurred the moon, but with 30 minutes to go, it was very clear. Each time I checked, Mars was catching up to the moon.

We got to see Mars move all the way up to the moon until we couldn’t find it anymore. I don’t think anyone saw the exact moment, but it was still a fun experience. We also got to look at Orion, Taurus, and Canis Major.

Maybe the most fun was teaching the kids about constellations and star names. Sure, they were distracted by the snow, but I could tell they caught at least some of it.

I wish I had known about the event before last week’s article. I would have mentioned it. I looked to see if there would be any more occultations of planets in 2025, but there won’t be here in the US.

In the future, I really want to see an occultation of Jupiter. Jupiter has four moons that are visible with binoculars, so there is a good chance that some of them may be visible after the planet disappears.

Maybe I’ll pass on my love for astronomy to one of the kids. It’s fun to hear the amazement in their voices and see it on their faces. That warms the heart no matter what the temperature is outside.

Alan Sparrow is a co-owner of the Polk County News.