Recently a rare Mars occultation had occurred, where the red planet disappeared behind the crescent of the Moon. The phenomenon was only visible from a small region in Asia,
including Brunei Darussalam.

Astronomical experts and enthusiasts from the Astronomical Society of Brunei Darussalam (PABD), armed with telescopes, binoculars and cameras took the opportunity to hold a viewing event for its members at the beach front of The Empire Brunei in Jerudong.

PABD Treasurer-General Shaiful Bahri bin Haji Ahmad offered an Islamic point of view of this occurance. “This phenomenon only occurs every 77 years,” he said.

This, he said, is one of Allah the Almighty’s magnificence.

“This is the beauty of the course of the precise movement and rules of stars and planets set by Allah the Almighty.

“The rules set by Allah the Almighty for the course of these planets are precise and beautiful, and each planet has its own course.”

Executive committee member of PABD Nurbazilah binti Zainal Abidin said there was a moment of panic when some clouds appeared to obstruct the view, but thankfully cleared just in time for the event.

During the spectacle, from the naked eye, Mars looked like a bright ‘red star’ close to the Moon at around 8pm. It got interestingly closer to the Moon by 9pm before disappearing at 9.29pm.

The PABD said that an occultation is an astronomical phenomenon when one object is obscured by another object that passes between it and the observer.

Mars slipped behind the Moon’s dark side and was visible to the naked eye. From Brunei, the Moon was very low on the horizon. Lunar gazers had to be at a location with an unobstructed view of the Western sky.

Since the Moon is the nearest cosmic neighbour to Earth, it regularly passes in front of planets or bright stars. But an occultation by the Moon and Mars from the same location on Earth is an exceedingly rare occurrence. It is often described as a “perfect planet alignment”.

The last Mars occultation that occurred in Brunei was in May 2008.

The next one is set to take place 77 years later, on February 7, 2098.

Clear skies in Brunei last night allowed for the easy viewing of a rare Mars occultation in its skies, where the Red Planet disappeared behind the crescent moon.

The phenomenon that happened for about 10 seconds at 9.29pm saw the moon passing in front of Mars creating a lunar occultation visible only from a small region of central Asia including Brunei.

Over 20 members of the Astronomical Society of Brunei Darussalam (PABD), armed with telescopes, binoculars and cameras took part in a viewing at the beach front of The Empire Brunei in Jerudong last night.

According to executive committee member of PABD Nurbazilah binti Zainal Abidin, the phenomenon is rare because it will only be visible in Brunei in the next 77 years.

“We were here from about 8pm, and recorded the whole transition from beginning, from above the moon until it goes behind the moon,” she said.

She added that the clear sky made the view easier.

“There was no obstruction, and the sky was clear, which is quite rare.”

She also recalled a moment of panic when some clouds appeared to obstruct the view five minutes before the start of the phenomenon but cleared just in time for the event.

From the naked eye, Mars looked like a bright “red star” close to the moon at around 8pm. It got interestingly closer to the moon by 9pm before disappearing at 9.29pm.

PABD said that an occultation is an astronomical phenomenon when one object is obscured by another object that passes between it and the observer.

Mars will slip behind the moon’s dark side and will be visible to the naked eye. From Brunei, the moon will be very low on the horizon. Lunar gazers must be at a location with an unobstructed view of the Western sky.

Since the moon is the nearest cosmic neighbour to Earth, it regularly passes in front of planets or bright stars. But an occultation by the moon and Mars from the same location on Earth is an exceedingly rare occurrence. It is often described as the “perfect planet alignment”.

The last Mars occultation from Brunei occurred in May 2008. The next in Brunei is set to take place 77 years later, on February 7, 2098.

Source: A rare Mars occultation in Brunei skies » Borneo Bulletin Online

The Moon will pass in front of Mars, creating a lunar occultation visible from only small region of central Asia including Brunei Darussalam.

An occultation is an astronomical phenomenon when one object is obscured by another object that passes between it and the observer.

The celestial spectacle will occur at exactly 9:29 p.m from Brunei when the Moon quickly covers Mars up.

The bright planet Mars will slip behind the moon’s dark side and will be visible to the naked eyes. From Brunei, the Moon will be very low on the horizon during the event, and lunar gazer must be at location with unobstructed view of the Western sky.

Occultation Rarity

Since the Moon is our nearest cosmic neighbor, it regularly passes in front of planets or bright stars in the sky. But occultations by the Moon and Mars from the same location on Earth is exceedingly a rare occurrence. It is often described as “perfect planet alignment” which is rare occurance.

During the eight millennium period 2000BC – 6000AD, somewhere on the Earth will experience a total of 118,243 occultations of the planets. In the case for Mars occultation, the average is about 2 occultations per year around the world.

The Previous Mars occultation from Brunei happened in May 2008. The next similar occurrence in Brunei is set to take place 77 years later, on February 7, 2098.

Press Release

The famous star cluster, also known as “Bintang Tujuh”, is a group of about 800 stars located 410 light-years away in the constellation Taurus.

Look Northwest at dusk and throughout the evening to see the cosmic duo progress to setting in the West (at around 10.30 pm Brunei Time).

On March 02, 2021, members of the Brunei Darussalam Astronomical Society (PABD) captured the red planet appears close to the Messier 45 (M45) or Pleiades star cluster from Brunei Darussalam.

The closest approach happens tonight, March 03, when they will be about 3 degrees apart. The cosmic pair is the closest since January 1991, and the next closest one will be in February 2038.

How large the planets appear in the sky, as seen through a telescope? This photograph of the planets taken last night shows the actual apparent size for comparison, measured in arcseconds (“).

The following table shows the planets apparent size as seem from the ground telescopes. Notice that the size varies depending on the planets’ distance from the Earth because all the planets orbit the Sun on different elliptical paths.

One of the prominent low albedo (dark) feature is Syrtis Major Planum, clearly visible on this photograph. Albedo is a measure of how much light something reflects.

Photographed by Hazarry of the Astronomical Society of Brunei Darussalam (PABD) from Mini-Astronomical Observatory in Keriam, Tutong.

These stunning photos show the three planets and the earth’s moon all shining brightly in day light, even after sunrise.

You can still see the moon shine with the planets at best before dawn this week.

Join our Group discussion and share your cosmic photo moments via Telegram t.me/bruneiastronomy or WhatsApp www.bruneiastronomy.org/wa

Photos by Hazarry @zrryahmad of PABD

The largest planet Jupiter with its four Jovian moons and the red planet Mars visibly fit in the same FOV of a small telescope (about 0.7° separation).

These photos of planetary conjunction were taken by Hazarry from Kampong Keriam.

Bandar Seri Begawan – These are some of exciting and not to be missed cosmic events visible in Brunei to look up next week.

March 18 until March 20, 2020: Three bright planets – Mars, Jupiter and Saturn- will join the crescent moon to form a cosmic cluster in the Eastern sky at dawn from Brunei Darussalam.

Friday and Saturday dawn (March 19 and 20): Mars and the gas giant Jupiter will be in close conjunction when both planets are less than 1° apart. They are very close enough (0.7 degree separation) to both fit into the same field of view with a telescope or binocular.

Friday, March 20, 2020: The earliest vernal equinox is at 11:51 am since 1896. It occurs when the sun passes directly over the equator and day and night have the same length.

Hopefully, weather will cooperate for this cosmic conjunction.

The rover, a robotic scientist weighing more than 2,300 pounds (1,000 kilograms), will search for signs of past microbial life, characterize the planet’s climate and geology, collect samples for future return to Earth, and pave the way for human exploration of the Red Planet.

“As we get ready to launch this historic Mars mission, we want everyone to share in this journey of exploration,” said Thomas Zurbuchen, associate administrator for NASA’s Science Mission Directorate (SMD) in Washington. “It’s an exciting time for NASA, as we embark on this voyage to answer profound questions about our neighboring planet, and even the origins of life itself.”

The opportunity to send your name to Mars comes with a souvenir boarding pass and “frequent flyer” points. This is part of a public engagement campaign to highlight missions involved with NASA’s journey from the Moon to Mars. Miles (or kilometers) are awarded for each “flight,” with corresponding digital mission patches available for download. More than 2 million names flew on NASA’s InSight mission to Mars, giving each “flyer” about 300 million frequent flyer miles (nearly 500 million frequent flier kilometers).

From now until Sept. 30, 2019, you can add your name to the list and obtain a souvenir boarding pass to Mars here:
https://go.nasa.gov/Mars2020Pass

The Microdevices Laboratory at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena, California, will use an electron beam to stencil the submitted names onto a silicon chip with lines of text smaller than one-thousandth the width of a human hair (75 nanometers). At that size, more than a million names can be written on a single dime-sized microchip. The chip (or chips) will ride on the rover under a glass cover.

NASA will use Mars 2020 and other missions to prepare for human exploration of the Red Planet. As another step toward that goal, NASA is returning American astronauts to the Moon in 2024. Government, industry and international partners will join NASA in a global effort to build and test the systems needed for human missions to Mars and beyond.

The Mars 2020 Project at JPL manages rover development for SMD. NASA’s Launch Services Program, based at the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, is responsible for launch management. Mars 2020 will launch from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida.

For more information on Mars 2020, visit:
https://www.nasa.gov/mars2020 and https://mars.nasa.gov/mars2020

For more about NASA’s Moon to Mars plans, visit:
https://www.nasa.gov/topics/moon-to-mars

News Media Contacts

Dwayne Brown / Alana Johnson
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-1726 / 202-358-1501
dwayne.c.brown@nasa.gov / alana.r.johnson@nasa.gov

Jia-Rui Cook / DC Agle
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.
818-354-0724 / 818-393-9011
jccook@jpl.nasa.gov / agle@jpl.nasa.gov