Mars Occultation 2003

Oppositions of Mars happen every 26 months and perihelic oppositions every 15-17 years. What made 2003 so special? Gravity and planet orbits. During 2003, August 27th to be exact, Mars came the closest to Earth since, get this, September 24, 57,617 B.C. And, it will not be that close again until August 29, 2297, again crazy long time. At the same time Mars was also at its brightest because of perihelion, when a planet is closest to the sun. It was once in a lifetime perihelic opposition, or perihelic apparition, event.

I was determined to try and capture the event with a photo.

I had planned a beach trip to OBX during the same time in September and decided to bring the new telescope for some attempted astrophotography. A side benefit was that OBX NC had very low light pollution, aiding in spotting and capturing images.

So, what is the occultation of Mars? Well, that is what I am calling this 2020 reprocessed photo of the Mars Opposition from September 1, 2003. Occultation is a celestial event, when one celestial object passes in front of another, blocking its view. When I first captured Mars during the perihelic opposition, I removed a black speck from the original, final photo before I posted the photo online, thinking perhaps it was noise or an artifact. However, after reexamining each photo, I think the artifact may have been an orbital satellite, or dare I say UFO? Well, not sure about a UFO, but here is the final reprocessed image to judge. The object only appeared in one photo out of all the frames captured. That single image frame capture is included as well.