The Moon and Mars had a "date" in the night sky. Photos and video

On Sunday, February 9, two space objects were seen in the evening sky. At 21:40 Kyiv time, Mars (-0.8m) and the Moon (92%) were 0.4° apart.

This bright tandem could be seen in a single field of view of binoculars or a small telescope. However, these two objects are so bright that they were perfectly visible to the naked eye above the southern horizon in the constellation Gemini, Space.com reports.

The Moon will be at full moon in just two days, so its current brightness was a great guide to seeing Mars in the night sky last night.

For orientation, astronomers also advised to look for the constellation Gemini, within which the astro-meeting took place. Castor and Pollux, the two stars after which the constellation is named, shone to the left of the Moon and Mars.

The conditions for the observations were quite favorable for Ukraine and the rest of Europe, as the sky was almost cloudless. According to astronomers, it was possible to observe the pair at 4:00 in the morning.

Interestingly, in some parts of the Earth, Mars actually disappears behind the Moon before reappearing on the other side. This one is called an "occultation" from the Latin word "occultare," which means to conceal or hide.

According to astronomers, because the Moon is very close to the Earth relative to Mars, only certain parts of the world were able to observe the total eclipse. According to In-the-Sky.org, the "occultation" could be seen from northeastern Canada, Greenland, and central China.

Although the Moon and Mars did not actually meet at all, this is an illusion created from the Earth, scientists say. The distance between these celestial objects is 109 million kilometers.

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