7 December 2022 Lunar Occulation of Mars
This interesting occultation occurred when both the Moon and Mars were very close to their individual oppositions. That is, both were almost directly opposite from the Sun with respect to the Earth. In the case of the Moon, that's the definition of a full moon. In the case of Mars, it means the planet is nearly as close as it can ever get to the Earth.
From Colorado this event began about three hours after sunset and lasted an hour. There were some scattered clouds that occasionally blocked the pair, and for much of the time a thin cloud layer that brightened the sky, but for the most part I was able to image them. Because the Moon is so close to the Earth, the actual timing of an occultation varies significantly based on where it is observed from. This event occurred at local times on both 7 December and 8 December, and may be referenced as an 8 December event based on Universal Time.
I used two setups. For higher resolution I tracked on Mars with my 10" RC scope and QSI660 camera. Those shots are black and white. For a wider view I imaged with a Canon 7D DSLR on my Stellarvue 4-inch refractor. Those images are in color.
Here we see Mars just passing behind the limb of the Moon at the beginning of the occultation. Although Mars is at its closest to the Earth, and therefore its largest apparent size, it is still just 17 arcseconds in diameter... compared with the Moon's apparent size of 1800 arcseconds. That is, a half degree for the Moon and 0.005 degrees for Mars.
This pair shows the beginning and end of the occultation. Because of the size difference, you may have to look very closely! (Click on the image to magnify it.) You can see Mars starting its pass behind the Moon at about 7 o'clock, and coming back out (an hour later) at about 3 o'clock. These images were made with the DSLR, and you can see the distinct red color of Mars compared with the almost (but not quite) neutral gray of the Moon.
A short animation of the beginning of the transit. The actual time of the sequence is about seven minutes. The brightness variations between frames is caused by thin clouds passing through.