Mars will be hidden by the Moon in the early morning hours of December 8, the day the planet is also in opposition.
The opposition to Mars is a big deal for Mars as it features the planet at its biggest and brightest for the current observing period – great news for anyone looking to capture an image of this rare event common
In this guide we’ll show you how to photograph the occultation of Mars for yourself.
For more information, read our complete guide to the lunar occultation of Mars.
See Mars reappear from behind the Moon during the lunar eclipse. Credit: (c) 2010 Luis Argerich / Getty Images
Photograph with a smartphone
The planet will be bright enough for many smartphone cameras to photograph.
If this is how you plan to record the occultation, go out on a clear night before December 8th to see if yours can do it.
Some are able to detect low light conditions and adjust accordingly.
If yours can’t do this, check if it offers a selection of manual camera settings, either natively or via a downloadable app.
A Google search of your phone’s make, model, and “astrophotography” can provide tips on setting it up.
Point the phone at the eyepiece
It’s unlikely that your phone will be able to capture the planet as it slips behind the edge of the Moon or exits behind it an hour later, but it’s possible to do so afocally by pointing the phone through the eyepiece of a telescope correctly focused at the time of the occultation.
An eyepiece holder is recommended here and can be obtained relatively inexpensively through astronomical equipment dealers.
If you plan to use only a phone camera, consider mounting it on a tripod with an inexpensive phone mount.
A headphone cable with a volume control sometimes works as a remote trigger.
Try it in the days before the cloaking by opening the camera, plugging in the cable, and pressing the “+” volume control to see if your phone takes a photo.
Try to take pictures when the Moon is close to Mars before or after occultation; this should give the best results.
If your camera has zoom capability, use optical zoom instead of digital zoom.
Digital zoom takes the highest optical zoom image and scales it up, with no benefit other than looking stunning on your phone screen.
Photograph with a digital camera
Credit: Gajus/iStock/Getty Images Plus
Cameras equipped with telephoto lenses will bring you closer to the action.
Below 1000mm focal length, it aims to capture the Moon with Mars as a close point.
Get a proper exposure of the Moon first, then adjust it so that Mars looks good.
Take a series of multiple images at, say, five-minute intervals before hiding.
They can be overlapped, setting the top layer’s blending modes to lighten.
Finally, put them together with the properly exposed photograph of the Moon to make a stunning interpretation of the event.
Mars will have an apparent disk size of 17.1 arcseconds on the night of the occultation.
Although 105 times smaller than the Moon’s apparent diameter of 1,803 arcseconds, a close-up on Mars will show it as a disk.
With a telephoto setup, you can capture the event in all its glory, as long as you pay attention to the difference in brightness between Mars and the Moon.
Follow our step-by-step guide below and see how well you can capture this rare and exciting event.
Credit: Pete Lawrence