Mars at opposition will meet up with the full moon next week (Dec. 7). Here's how to see it

Sometimes something will appear in the sky that will draw the attention of people who don't look up.

The moon will be very close to Mars in the evening hours of Wednesday. The moon is going to be full at 11:01 pm. Just 87 minutes later, Mars arrived at opposition to the sun. This will result in a perfect alignment of the planets.

People, who are unaware or have no advance notice, will almost certainly wonder, as they look towards our nearest neighbor in space on this first Wednesday in December, just what is that bright orange-yellow light? Sometimes there is a sudden surge of phone calls to radio and television stations, weather offices, and police precinct. There aren't many calls that excitedly inquire about the strange object that's in the vicinity of our satellite.

You can see the event in person if you don't live in any of the locations listed below. On December 7th and December 8th, the time is Affirmative.

There is a full moon in December and a cold moon in February.

Those who are located north and west of a line that goes from Mexico to Louisville, Kentucky to Seabrook, New Hampshire will be able to see the moon. You can refer to the US map. The moon will miss the planet completely if you are positioned south and east of this line.

The lower limb of the moon will look like it grazed Mars as it passed by.

If you are located along the northern edge of the path, the planet's disk may disappear completely and reappear intermittently in lunar valleys. Along the southern edge of the path, Mars' northern edge won't touch the moon.

Morgantown, WV; Scranton, PA; Hudson, NY; Northampton, MA; and Seabrook, NH are all within the path. Refer to the maps.

Mars is a small disk in telescopes, unlike a star which would disappear and reappear in an instant. It will take anywhere from 40 seconds to almost a minute for Mars to disappear behind the moon's bright limb.

The moon's slow eastward drift will take more than two minutes to completely cover, and later uncover the planet's disk, which is closer to the northern limit of the graze path.

Gradually, the planet's reappearance will happen. There is a term for hiding. The upcoming event may be referred to as an eclipse of Mars. When the moon moves to the east against the background stars, it will appear to approach Mars from the west, and then uncover it, and leave it behind as it moves to the east.

Plainly visible with just your eyes

An opportunity to see a bright planet at night at a specific location on Earth is very rare, and for Mars it happens about every 14 years. If you live in the occultation zone and the weather gods cooperate, this upcoming event is a must see.

When Mars has its lunar rendezvous, it will shine at its very best. Even a bright star can be hard to see in a full moon. Because Mars is as bright as it is, this spectacular vanishing act can be seen with just your eye or binoculars, although the very best views will be afforded with a telescope.

There are 27 cities in the United States and Canada in the table. The calendar date is always December 8.

The above table gives civil times of Mars' disappearance and reappearance from behind the moon. Both the disappearance and reappearance of the planet, can last anywhere from 40 seconds to over two minutes, depending on whether Mars passes centrally behind the moon (and is covered for an hour or more) or near its lower edge at a slant (and is covered for less than a half hour). Disappearance and reappearance times are for Mars' center.

Table was adapted from data provided by the International Occultation Timing Association (IOTA) (opens in new tab). 

Don't miss this near miss!

This will be a close approach of the moon to Mars for the rest of the world. The moon will slowly move around the Earth in an easterly direction and eventually pass above the planet. Even though the heavily populated Southeast and Eastern United States will miss out on an occultation, Mars will almost command people to look at it.

Mars will almost seem to touch each other when it comes to places like Philadelphia and New York. Mars will look like a jewel on the bottom of the moon. The small gap between Mars and the moon's limb is found from Boston.

The moon will be slowly moving away from Mars after closest approach.

The details for 15 cities in the continental U.S., Puerto Rico andBermuda are in Table 2.

Civil times are given for the closest approach to the moon's lower limb. The separation between Mars and the moon is given in minutes of arcs.

The closest approach is 10:33 p.m. from Jacksonville. Roughly 1/3 of the moon's width will separate Mars from the rest.

Europe too! And after 2022, your next opportunity

Europeans will be able to participate in this event, which will take place during the predawn hours of Thursday. Mars will disappear behind the moon early in the morning in Lisbon. It is 4:55 a.m. and 5:56 a.m. London opens at 5:00 a.m. and closes at 5:39 a.m. The time is 6:56 a.m. Paris and Madrid are both open on the same day.

The next favorable occultation of Mars for North America will take place on January 14, 2025. at around 4h UT. The moon will be a waning gibbous about 6 hours past full. Mars comes to opposition just two days later.

Joe Rao serves as an instructor and guest lecturer at New York's Hayden Planetarium (opens in new tab). He writes about astronomy for Natural History magazine (opens in new tab), the Farmers' Almanac (opens in new tab) and other publications. Follow us on Twitter @Spacedotcom (opens in new tab) and on Facebook (opens in new tab).