It will be possible to observe the lunar occultation of Mars with the naked eye, although additional equipment will be needed for a better view.. The red planet will disappear for 4 hours behind the Earth's satellite and this astronomical phenomenon is called an occultation, writes Live Science.

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The term " Most often from Earth you can observe the Moon covering the stars and other planets of the solar system.

After sunset on the evening of January 13 and for another 4 hours, the Moon's occultation of Mars will be visible.. Interestingly, this occultation will occur while Mars is at opposition. That is, the Red Planet will be located directly opposite the Sun in the Earth’s sky and both planets will be almost on the same line. At the same time, Mars will be closest to our planet at that time and will be very bright.

In order to get a good look at the lunar occultation of Mars, you need binoculars or an amateur telescope.. But the most important thing is that there is not too much artificial lighting nearby that will interfere with the view..

On January 13, the Moon will be full and the Earth's satellite will be visually close to Mars until the morning of January 14.

Although the lunar occultation of Mars can be seen with the naked eye, because both objects will be very bright, additional equipment is required to examine individual features of their surface.. In particular, you can use binoculars or a telescope to see the largest craters on Mars and the Moon.

When Mars is closest to Earth, you can clearly see the northern polar cap of the Red Planet, which extends for 1000 km, and the Valles Marineris, that is, the largest canyon in the solar system. Its width is 600 km and its length is 3000 km..

The next lunar occultation of Mars will be seen in February of this year..

It is worth saying that weather conditions, as well as location, can influence how well the lunar occultation of Mars will be visible..

As Focus already wrote, a rare 4 km wide asteroid is flying towards Earth, and it will be closest to us for the first time in 100 years. The huge asteroid (887) Alinda can even be seen with binoculars.

Focus also wrote that in February it will be possible to observe a very rare planetary alignment, when 7 worlds of the solar system will visually appear to be located almost on the same line. January will see a less rare, but still equally impressive 6 planet alignment.