In today's image, we see the planet Mars rising above the lunar limb during the occultation which occurred on December 7 and was visible from much of North America and Europe. An occultation occurs when one astronomical object passes in front of another, temporarily blocking it from view. The most often observed occultation would be a solar eclipse when our Moon passes in front of the Sun.

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This Podcast is an authorized New Media Mirror Site for APOD. You can access the image and website directly at: Astronomy Picture of the Day. You can use the archive link below the image to select the photo corresponding to the date of this podcast.

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