Tag: Mars

A Line of Planets in the Sunset

As Mercury rises clear of the Sun’s glare it joins Mars and Saturn in the sunset sky. Tonight the three will form a nice line of planets. Mercury will still be quite low, about 12° from the Sun at sunset. Saturn is next in the line at 19° elevation at sunset. Mars will be over 30° high at sunset. As usual Mars and Saturn are about the same brightness, Mars at 1.2 magnitude, Saturn at 0.72. Mercury will be the brightest at -0.6 magnitude, which will aid in seeing the planets lower in the sunset.

The three will dance in the sunset over the coming weeks with Saturn and Mercury joining up for a close set around October 4th.

The Moon, Mars, Saturn and Spica

A nice conjunction of a crescent Moon, Mars, Saturn and the bright star Spica will grace the evening sky tonight. The quartet will be arranged in a rough square about 4° on side. The two planets and the star will all be about 1st magnitude, with the Moon showing about 25% illuminated.

Mars, Saturn and Spica

Mars will pass between Saturn and Spica this evening. Currently moving in retrograde, the red planet will be directly between the ringed planet and the star. All three will be close to 1st magnitude. Saturn and Spica are currently about 4.5° apart. Mars will be just under 2° from the star.

The trio will be close for a couple weeks. On the 21st a thin crescent Moon, 24% illuminated, will join to create a very nice quartet.

Mars, Saturn and Spica

Mars is fast approaching a rendezvous with both Saturn and Spica this week. Currently moving in retrograde, the red planet will pass between the ringed planet and the star. All three will be close to 1st magnitude. Saturn and Spica are currently about 4.5° apart. Mars will pass directly between the two on the 13th, just under 2° from the star.

The trio will be close for a couple weeks. On the 21st a thin crescent Moon, 24% illuminated, will join to create a very nice quartet.

The Moon, Mars, Saturn and Spica

A nice conjunction of a crescent Moon, Mars, Saturn and the bright star Spica will grace the evening sky tonight. All four will be within 12° of each other. The two planets and the star will all be about 1st magnitude, with the Moon showing about 37% illuminated.

The same quartet will get together again next month, for an even tighter grouping.

The Moon and Saturn

Saturn, the Moon and Spica will form a trio high in the sky at sunset tonight. The three will be within 7° of each other. The gibbous Moon will be 62% illuminated. Saturn will be shining at 0.4 magnitude while Spica is very close to 1.0 magnitude. Look for the planet Mars 25° west of Saturn at about the same brightness.

Martian Devil

A desolate rocky plain, red, cold, dry, a scene from an alien world. In the distance there is movement, a swirling dust devil slowly works its way across the plain.

To truly appreciate such an image takes you to another world, so similar, yet so different from our own. The world is Mars, the scene is real, captured by the HiRISE camera orbiting aboard the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. I never get tired of these sort of pictures…

Martian Devil
A dust devil crossing the rocky Amazonis Planitia of Mars, image credit NASA/JPL/University of Arizona

Mars Close Approach

Mars during the 2005 opposition
Mars during the 2005 opposition
Today the planet Mars will be at its closest point to the Earth.

Mars was at opposition two days ago, but not at its closest. Close approach of the two planets is not necessarily on the same day as opposition, but can vary up to two weeks. This year sees the two planets approaching to 99,331,411 km (61,721,554 miles) at 07:01HST. At this distance the red planet will show a disk 13.89″ arc-seconds across in the eyepiece.

All month Mars will be visible throughout the night, high in the sky at midnight. This is the time to enjoy observing our closest neighboring planet while it is nearby and high in the night sky.