Rare Mars eclipse by the full moon wows stargazers with occultation (video)

On Wednesday (Dec. 7), skywatchers around the world were treated to a celestial show as the full moon eclipsed Mars in the night sky.

The rare event, known as a lunar occultation, refers to one celestial body — in this case, Mars — appearing to disappear or hide behind another — in this case, the moon. This occultation was particularly noteworthy because Mars was at opposition, meaning Earth was directly between it and the sun, making the Red Planet appear particularly bright in the night sky. 

Related: See Mars at opposition in these free webcasts tonight (Dec. 8)

Last night's occultation of Mars by the full moon produced some gorgeous images from observers around the world. The Griffith Observatory in California had a great view of the moon and Mars joining up on Dec. 7 and caught a time-lapse of the Red Planet disappearing behind Earth's celestial companion as seen in the video above.

In addition, skywatchers around the world have been posting gorgeous images of the lunar occultation of Mars on social media, offering a look at one of the year's most-watched celestial events.

Astrophotographer Andrew McCarthy caught Mars and the full moon in a beautiful close-up:

Spaceflight photographer John Kraus caught a stunning shot of Mars as it appeared behind the moon following occultation:

Amateur astrophotographer Tom Williams produced a gorgeous image of the moon and Mars by combining multiple photographs, and offered an explanation of how he made the image on Twitter.

Amateur astronomer and photographer Tom Glenn produced a breathtaking image of Mars rising above the moon by stacking 15 different photograph frames.

Astronomer and science communicator Phil Plait caught Mars creeping behind the moon just prior to occultation.

The lunar occultation of Mars by the full Cold Moon was particularly noteworthy because the Red Planet only appears at opposition every 26 months, so the next opposition won't occur until January 2025.

Mars was also especially close to Earth during this event, which occurred while the planet was at perigee, or its closest point to Earth in its orbit. The record for closest approach between Mars and Earth was set in 2003 at just 34.8 million miles (56 million kilometers); according to NASA, Mars and Earth won't be this close for another 265 years, until 2287. 

Editor's Note: If you snap a great photo of either Mars at opposition or the lunar occultation and would like to share it with Space.com's readers, send your photo(s), comments, and your name and location to spacephotos@space.com. 

Editor's Note: This piece was updated at 4:30 p.m. EST (2130 GMT) on Dec. 8 to indicate that the record for Mars' closest approach to Earth was set in 2003.

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