In the early hours of next Thursday, Mars will completely disappear behind the full moon, in an event known as “occultation”.
And on Wednesday, the moon will approach Mars in the night sky, until the expected phenomenon begins to occur at 4:30 a.m. Thursday, GMT, according to the English newspaper “Daily Mail”.
At about 4.58 am GMT, Mars will disappear behind the western half of the moon, and will reappear about an hour later behind the eastern end.
The disappearance will be visible across northern Europe, Greenland and North America, as well as the tip of northern Africa.
Those wishing to follow the astronomical event can search for local times online, as the number of hours may vary depending on the country.
The event can be seen with the naked eye, especially since Mars will be at its brightest, after it passed near Earth on December 1.