Watch The Tuesday Morning Lunar Occulation

Anytime a celestial body passes in front of another is called an occulation, an eclipse is the most popular example. Tomorrow morning the moon will pass in front of Mars, this is known as a lunar occulation. There are many different occulations and you can look them up at the International Occulation Timing Association. Tomorrow’s occulation of Mars could last up to an hour, and will be easier to see at the beginning because of the sunrise. The midwest to the west coast will have the best view.

There have been many discoveries during observed occulations. In 1977 it was discovered Uranus had rings. When it passed in front of a star the NASA’s Kuiper Airborne Observatory observed the star winking as Uranus passed in front of its view. That star’s winking as each side passed indicated there were rings around your Uranus.

There that is something you know now.