The Mars opposition is a big deal for Mars, showing the planet at its biggest and brightest for the current observing period – great news for anyone looking to capture an image of this unusual event. In this guide we’ll show you how to photograph the Martian occultation yourself. For more information, read our complete guide to the lunar occultation of Mars. See Mars reappear behind the Moon during the lunar eclipse. Credit: (c) 2010 Luis Argerich / Getty Images
Smartphone photography
The planet will be bright enough that many smartphone cameras should be able to photograph it well. If that’s how you plan to capture the occultation, go outside on a clear night before December 8th to see if yours can. Some are able to detect low light conditions and adjust accordingly. If yours can’t do this, see if it offers a manual camera settings option either natively or via a downloadable app. A Google search for your phone’s make, model and “astrophoto” can provide advice on settings.
Point your phone down into the eyepiece
It’s unlikely that your phone will capture the planet as it slips behind the edge of the Moon or out from behind it an hour later, but it may be possible to do so dramatically by pointing your phone under the eyepiece of a properly focused telescope. at the time of concealment. An eyepiece mount is highly recommended here and can be obtained relatively cheaply through astronomical supply stores. If you only plan to use a phone camera, consider mounting it on a tripod with an inexpensive phone mount. A headphone cable with a volume control sometimes doubles as a shutter remote. Try it in the days before the hide by turning on the camera, plugging in the cable and pressing the ‘+’ volume control button to see if your phone takes a photo. Aim to take pictures when the Moon is close to Mars either before or after occultation – this should give the best results. If your camera has zoom, use optical zoom instead of digital zoom. Digital zoom takes the highest optical zoom image and upscales it, with no benefit other than looking stunning on your phone screen.
Photography with a digital camera
Credit: Gajus/iStock/Getty Images Plus
Cameras equipped with telephoto lenses will bring you closer to the action. Below a focal length of 1,000mm, aim to capture the Moon with Mars as a dot nearby. Get a proper exposure of the Moon first, then adjust to make Mars look nice. Take a series of multiple images at, say, five minute intervals leading up to the concealment. These can be overlaid by setting the top layer’s blending modes to lighten. Finally, bring them together with the properly exposed shot of the Moon to make a stunning rendering of the event. Mars will display an apparent disk size of 17.1 arcseconds on the night of the occultation. Although 105 times smaller than the Moon’s apparent diameter of 1,803 arc seconds, a close-up of Mars will show it as a disk. With the telephoto setting you can capture the event in its full glory, as long as you pay attention to the difference in brightness between Mars and the Moon. Follow our step-by-step guide below and see how well you can capture this rare and exciting event. Realization: Pete Lawrence
