About an hour after the moon rose on Dec. 7, the planet Mars crossed behind the moon, then reappeared about an hour later on the other side. If you look closely, you’ll see the little red dot of Mars to the left of the moon. My husband Mark took this shot with his iPhone using a method called “digiscoping” or afocal photography. Many in the amateur astronomical community use a digital camera or in this case a camera phone which is held up to the eyepiece of a spotting scope or telescope to take the photo. It’s also a common technique used by bird watchers as well.
