Moon near Pleiades and Mars on eclipse night

Moon near Pleiades and Mars

According to clocks in the Americas, the moon will reach the crest of its full phase in the wee hours on Tuesday, November 8, 2022. But the evening before – Monday evening, November 7 – the moon will rise in the east around the time of sunset, appearing more than 99% illuminated. The intriguing little star cluster of the Pleiades will be nearby. Soon afterward, fiery Mars will rise, joining the moon and Pleiades in time for the total lunar eclipse before Tuesday’s dawn.

Red Mars and a red eclipsed moon. Wow!

Mars is racing toward its opposition on December 8, 2022. That’s when Earth will pass between Mars and the sun, and the distance between our two worlds will be at its closest for about two years. So Mars is particularly bright now, and great fun to see.

You might notice another red point of light in the vicinity. That’s the star Aldebaran, the bloodshot eye of Taurus the Bull. Aldebaran is one of our sky’s brightest stars. But Mars is brighter now!

The moon’s path on November 7, 8 and 9

On November 7 at sunset, the moon is in the constellation Aries. The Pleiades, reddish Aldebaran and Mars are to its northeast. By the evening of November 8, the moon and the Pleiades are much closer in the sky. The moon is now waning and crossing from Aries into Taurus. On November 9, it’s within a triangle formed by the Pleiades, Aldebaran and Mars. The next two evenings the moon is much closer to Mars as it continues its journey across the ecliptic.

Our charts are mostly set for the northern half of Earth. To see a precise view from your location, try Stellarium Online.

Bottom line: Find the moon near Pleiades and Mars on the evenings of November 7, 8 and 9, 2022. The moon undergoes a total lunar eclipse on the morning of November 8.

For more great observing events in the coming weeks, visit EarthSky’s night sky guide