Full moon near Mars on December 23
The nearly full moon close to the planet Mars on December 11, 2005. Photo: Jared Smith
Sunday, December 23, 2007
For us in the U.S., the full moon is tonight.
And if you look outside you’ll see this full moon near a blazing reddish light in our sky. It’s the planet Mars. Flying through space at 18 miles per second, Earth is about to go between the sun and Mars. Earth will pass between Mars and the sun tomorrow. So the distance between us and Mars is now about at its least for this two-year period, and Mars won’t come anywhere near this close again until the year 2010.
That’s why Mars appears bright in our sky. It’s as bright as the brightest star, Sirius. And Mars is the brightest object near tonight’s moon. Be sure to look for Mars’ reddish color. By the way, tonight’s full moon is the full moon closest to the December solstice. Standing opposite the sun in our sky, tonight’s full moon closely mirrors the position of the June sun. In fact, this full moon is the northernmost full moon of the year.
For the northern hemisphere, the Full Long Night Moon – with Mars nearby – will climb high by midnight tonight. Just be sure to look for the very brilliant star-like object shining near the moon tonight.
By the way, the full moon comes at the same moment for everyone worldwide, but our clocks say different times. The December full moon falls at precisely 1:16 Monday morning Universal Time. In the Americas, the full moon falls during the evening hours tonight. For the world’s Eastern Hemisphere, it’ll be after midnight Monday when the moon turns full. No matter where you live, a full-looking moon shines from dusk till dawn tonight.
Our thanks today to Research Corporation, a foundation for the advancement of science.
I love everything about your site, and only wish that I had known about it earlier. Thanks for this piece of information, hopefully, if the skies are clear, I’ll be able to see the moon and spot Mars on that night. Buon Natale!
Thank you for the wonderful information! I was wondering what planet that was and your site gave me all the information I needed to educate my son. We will definitely be back.
I just went outside to look at the moon and I did notice Mars next to it. Thanks for the information. I would not have known about it until I came across your website. Awesome!!!
Seven months ago, it was Venus near the moon!
I too noticed what looked like a star very close to the full moon tonight as the clouds were clearing. I thought it strange that this “star” did not appear to change its location in relation to the moon as the evening progressed. Thanks for clearing this up for me! It’s a beautiful sight.
I was watching the full moon last night and Mars. It appeared to me that Mars was spiraling in toward the moon in a counterclockwise motion and got a lot closer to the moon over a couple of hours. Why is that?
This is the first time I have visited your site and I am really impressed and happy that I have found it. The referral was in the newspaper. The newspaper used to have a “night sky” article with the weather but they have long since discontinued this. Thanks for presnting the information and a whole wealth of information to explore.
Outstanding SITE! Near the Chattanooga area. Sunday night (23rd) we had unusually clear skies…the moon was dazzling, casting a darker shadow that my porch light! I should have made notes, but about 8:30pm, I could see an object very close to about 6-7o’clock. Went back out about 11:30pm and the object was at about 2-3o’clock. I had never seen any object that close to a full moon!
Now I know what I was looking at! Spectacular