ASTRONOMY FOR BEGINNERS

HOW TO SEE MARS IN WINTER

The planet Mars is becoming a major player in the night sky, outshone only by the Moon, when it’s about, and Jupiter. It’s visible, bright and distinctly orange in colour, above the eastern horizon at 11pm on 1 November, at 10pm mid-November, and at 9pm on 1 December. Mars is currently moving against the stars of Taurus the Bull, and this places it near two bright and similarly orange-hued stars, Aldebaran in Taurus and Betelgeuse in Orion.

After Earth, Mars is the next furthest planet from the Sun. It takes 687 days for the Red Planet to complete one orbit. This means that from Earth, it appears to lie in the opposite part of the sky to the Sun, a position known as opposition, once every 2.1 years. Opposition is a big deal for Mars, because apart from putting a planet in a position where it’s visible all night long, this is also when it appears brightest and, through the eyepiece of a telescope, largest. All superior planets – the term describing planets with larger orbits than Earth – reach opposition, but the improvement in visibility is particularly dramatic for ‘nearby’ Mars.

Mars reaches opposition on 8 December, and the Red Planet is closest to Earth a week earlier, on 1 December. Excitingly, from the UK in the early hours of 8 December, the full Moon appears to move in front of Mars, hiding it from view; a rare event known as a lunar occultation of Mars. This event will be visible to the naked eye, as well as through binoculars and telescopes. From the centre of the UK, Mars disappears at 4:54am, before reappearing just over an hour later at 5:56am.

Times will vary slightly with different locations, so start viewing approximately 20 minutes before the stated times to ensure you don’t miss anything. PL