If you’ve been tracking Mars leading up to its opposition on January 16, 2025, you know that it looks wonderfully bright in the night sky.

Tonight, January 13, 2025, a rare lunar occultation of Mars will be visible to U.S. stargazers, meaning the Red Planet will appear to disappear behind the moon before reappearing on the other side.

This lunar occultation of Mars is (just!) visible from all of the continental United States, but not from Europe.

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The lunar occultation will occur on January 13, 2025, and the best strategy for observing it is to locate the bright full Moon, identify bright Mars to the east of it, and continue observing.

Due to lunar parallax, the event will occur at different times in different locations across the United States.

This means that due to Earth’s proximity to the Moon, there will be a shift in Mars’ position relative to the Moon in the night sky depending on where you are observing from.

That’s why the event will be visible in the USA, for example, while in Europe Mars will come close to the moon but not disappear behind it.

If you are a US resident, you can use our table below to watch the event.

Observing with binoculars will help you see Mars disappearing behind the moon: a full moon can be very bright!

It’s even better if you can use a telescope

Wolf Moon explained

This lunar occultation of Mars occurs during a bright full moon, specifically the first full moon in 2025.

Some call it the “Wolf Moon” because wolves do not hibernate in the winter and are therefore one of the few animals active in the wild at this time of year.

Each month’s full moon nickname reflects events in nature at that time of year, and January’s full moon is known as the Wolf Moon.

However, full moon nicknames are just that: they are informal nicknames that do not reflect how the moon will look or behave.

This is a “normal” full moon like any other month. Except, of course, that it will obscure the planet Mars, resulting in a spectacular event.

If you observe or photograph Mars’ lunar occultation on January 13, 2025, share your experiences and images with us by emailing [email protected].

Many thanks to Pete Lawrence for providing the dates and times and for creating the table included here.