BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN, April 18 (Borneo Bulletin/ANN): 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 on Saturday (April 17) saw the moon passing in front of Mars creating a lunar occultation visible only from a small region of central Asia including Brunei. 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. But an occultation by the moon and Mars from the same location on Earth is an exceedingly rare occurrence. The last Mars occultation from Brunei occurred in May 2008.

Source: The Star April 18, 2021 08:36 UTC