Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
      fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
                    written by a professional astronomer.

                               2020 August 15

                           Mars at the Moon's Edge
                   Image Credit & Copyright: Sergio Scauso

   Explanation: Does the Moon ever block out Mars? Yes, the Moon
   occasionally moves in front of all of the Solar System's planets. Just
   this past Sunday, as visible from some locations in South America, a
   waning gibbous Moon eclipsed Mars. The featured image from Córdoba,
   Argentina captured this occultation well, showing a familiar cratered
   Moon in the foreground with the bright planet Mars unusually adjacent.
   Within a few seconds, Mars then disappeared behind the Moon, only to
   reappear a few minutes later across the Moon. Today the Moon moves
   close to, but not in front of, Venus. Because alignments will not have
   changed by much, the next two times the Moon passes through this part
   of the sky - in early September and early October - it will also occult
   Mars, as seen from parts of South America.

           Pereid Meteor Shower: Notable images submitted to APOD
                      Tomorrow's picture: grand galaxy
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       Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
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