The last full moon of 2022 is going to be a doozy over Montreal tonight.
On Wednesday, the moon will reach its full moon phase as December’s aptly named “cold moon” will take to the night skies.
The cold moon will reach peak illumination tonight and will be joined by our neighbouring planet Mars, in a rare occurrence.
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According to Plateau Astro, an engaging local astronomer who tracks orbits over Montreal, Mars will disappear behind the moon in what is called a “Lunar Occultation” and will be visible over most of North America and parts of Europe.
“Basically, the Earth, Moon, and Mars perfectly line up,” he says. “For about an hour, Mars will be ‘behind’ the Moon.”
For Montreal stargazers, the cold moon starts at exactly 10:39 pm and ends at 11:29 pm. Plateau Astro says the skyward event is best viewed with a telescope but it will also be visible with binoculars and the good ol’ naked eye.
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The groovy astronomers at Space.com say tonight’s celestial event offers an “excellent opportunity to view Mars in the night sky as it puts on quite a show for observers on Earth.”
The Red Planet will be at opposition tonight, meaning it forms a straight line with Earth and the sun, with Earth in the middle. “In this alignment, Mars will appear brighter than usual and be much easier to see in the sky,” says Space.com. Mars is at opposition just once every 26 months.
If you’re unable to get outside during that time or if skies in your area are cloudy, you can watch the lunar occultation of Mars online for free, courtesy of several webcasts from observatories around the world.
Keep your heads up tonight, Montreal ā literally.
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