火星伴月

火星伴月

Full Moon, Full Mars
Image Credit & Copyright: David Bowman

Explanation: On January 13 a Full Moon and a Full Mars were close, both bright and opposite the Sun in planet Earth’s sky. In fact Mars was occulted, passing behind the Moon, when viewed from some locations in North America and northwest Africa. As seen from Richmond, Virginia, USA, this composite image sequence follows the evening lunar occultation before, during, and after the much anticipated celestial spectacle. The telescopic time series is constructed from an exposure made every two minutes while tracking the Moon over the hours encompassing the event. As a result, the Red Planet’s trajectory seems to follow a gently curved path due to the Moon’s slightly different rate of apparent motion. The next lunar occultation of bright planet Mars will be on February 9 when the moon is in a waxing gibbous phase. Lunar occultations are only ever visible from a fraction of the Earth’s surface, though. The February 9 occultation of Mars will be seen from parts of Russia, China, eastern Canada, Greenland and other (mostly northern) locations, but a close conjunction of a bright Moon with Mars will be more widely visible from planet Earth.

Growing Gallery: Moon-Mars Occultation in January 2025
Tomorrow’s picture: Touchdown!

火星伴月
影像提供与版权: David Bowman

说明: 1月13日的地球天空中，与太阳180度反向（冲）的满月与明亮火星，发生了近合。从北美洲和非洲西北的部分地区看出去，月亮甚至通过火星前方，带来了月掩火星的景观。这幅摄于美国佛吉尼亚州里奇蒙市的组合影像系列，记录了这例众所引颈期盼的天文奇观，并呈现此掩星事件前、中及后等阶段的景象。这个涵盖数小时期间的望远镜影像系列，则是建构自以月亮为导星标的、每隔2分钟拍摄的照片。影像里，受到月亮视运动的速率略有变化之影响，火星看似沿着略微弯曲的路径移动。今年的2月9日会再次发生月掩火星，届时的月相将是凸盈月。此次的月掩火星，只有地球的小部区域可见。而2月9日的月掩火星，可见的地区则广及俄罗斯、中国、加拿大东部、格陵兰及许多北半球区域。 不过，其余区域即使看不到掩星，仍可见到明月与火星发生近合。

不断扩大的画廊: 2025年1月的月掩火星
明日的图片: Touchdown!

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