Beauty Without Borders -- Encounter of Mars and the Moon

Skywatchers around the world get set for an eye-catching close encounter between Mars and the Moon occurring on April 17 (Universal Time). In some part of Southeast Asia, Mars will even glide behind the disk of the Moon in the evening sky. 

You may have noticed that the Red Planet is quite a bit fainter now, compared to last year October, when it was in opposition - at its closest to Earth.  That’s because Mars is now twice as far as the Sun. However, it is still very much visible to the naked eye.

This close encounter with the Moon will make it easy for even the novice skywatcher to find Mars in the evening sky. And if we share the images taken at different geographical locations across the world, we can discover and visibly demonstrate how the relative apparent positions of Mars and the Moon change with time, and how they look different depending on the latitude of the observation site.

Enjoy the beauty of this sky show with friends all over the world!

To find out more details and to submit your photos go to the program page.