Only a few minutes from occultation, Mars is seen just off the lower edge of the lunar limb in this full-disk image recorded at 9:09 PM EST. The event only occurs with planet Mars about once every 14 years. Photo by James Guilford.
Passing clouds threatened to obscure the 2025 lunar occultation of Mars but thanks to gaps between those clouds, there was enough clearing for observation. Shortly after Mars vanished, so did those inter-cloud gaps. With Moon now cloud-covered, I did not return to the 13℉ night to watch for Mars to emerge.
A dull, ghostly lump is all that’s left as Mars disappears behind Earth’s Moon at 9:12 PM EST, January 13, 2025. Lunar basin Grimaldi is the dark oval just to the right of where Mars is seen here. Photo by James Guilford.
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