In Boston and surrounding towns, this phenomenon will occur between 9:26 p.m. and 10:42 p.m. (disappearance and reappearance times). While it will be easy to see the moon and Mars early in the evening with the naked eye, watching the actual occultation will require a bit of hardware, say binoculars or a telescope.

Mars currently has two satellite moons – Phobos and Deimos – the twin sons of Ares, the god of war (Mars in Roman mythology) and Aphrodite, the goddess of love, beauty, and procreation, in Greek mythology.

The moon performed a cosmic ballet with Mars this week. On Monday evening (Jan. 13), the Full Wolf Moon passed in front of Mars in what's known as a lunar occultation, during which another celestial object appears to disappear behind the moon from our vantage point on Earth.