In a rare celestial event, a lunar occultation of Mars will be visible from India on Saturday at 5 pm.
The crescent moon will come directly between the Earth and Mars leading to this rare lunar occultation. From Earth, such events are visible twice a year.
Skygazers will be able to view Mars with naked eyes at 5 pm IST. The phenomenon will be visible from India, Indonesia and western coast of South Africa.
During this time, the Mars will be completely covered by the moon for nearly an hour and a half and people will be able to view Mars a red dot in the sky next to the moon.
According to US space agency National Aeronautics and Space Administration (Nasa), occultation is a phenomenon when one object passes in front of another object which is much smaller, for example when the moon passes in front of a distant star.
Notedly, the rings of Uranus was discovered by an occultation. Nasa's Kuiper Airborne Observatory had discovered the planet's rings when Uranus occulted a star.
People in Udupi and Dakshina Kannada will be able to witness this phenomenon, said Poornaprajna Amateur Astronomers’ Club.
According to a report by Forbes, people are advised to start looking towards the moon as dusk turns to darkness about 90 minutes after sunset.
