{"id":38891,"date":"2022-11-23T11:32:44","date_gmt":"2022-11-23T11:32:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.skyatnightmagazine.com\/?p=113954"},"modified":"2022-11-23T16:00:06","modified_gmt":"2022-11-23T16:00:06","slug":"how-to-photograph-mars-at-opposition","status":"publish","type":"rss_feed","link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/rss_feed\/how-to-photograph-mars-at-opposition\/","title":{"rendered":"How to photograph Mars at opposition"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/p>

By Pete Lawrence\n \t\t<\/p>

Published: Wednesday, 23 November 2022 at 12:00 am<\/p>

\n\n

The excitement is increasing as Mars approaches opposition on 8 December<\/a>. This is because Mars oppositions are a big deal.<\/p>\n

The term opposition<\/a> describes when a planet appears on the other side of the sky to the Sun.<\/p>\n

Geometrically, this also means we\u2019re closer to a planet at opposition than at any other time.<\/p>\n

For more distant worlds, the difference that makes to its appearance isn\u2019t so significant.<\/p>\n

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Positioned on the opposite side of the Earth to the Sun, here Jupiter is shown at opposition. Credit: Steve Marsh<\/span><\/figcaption><\/div>\n

An exception is Saturn, but only because of the \u2018opposition effect\u2019, a phenomenon that makes Saturn\u2019s rings<\/a> glow brighter at opposition than at other times.<\/p>\n

However, Mars is a nearer world and its opposition appearance is considerably better than at other times.<\/p>\n

When are Mars oppositions?<\/strong>\u00a0<\/span><\/h2>\n
\"""\"<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>
The difference in the apparent size of Mars when it\u2019s at its most favourable opposition and when at its most distant from Earth. Credit: Pete Lawrence<\/span><\/figcaption><\/div>\n

Mars oppositions occur every 2.1 years. At optimal oppositions it appears to have an apparent diameter over 20 arcseconds across.<\/p>\n

As well as appearing to expand in size through the eyepiece, to the naked eye Mars also brightens impressively around opposition.<\/p>\n

Less favourable oppositions may present the planet with an apparent arcsecond diameter in the low-teens.<\/p>\n

The 2022 Mars opposition has the Red Planet reaching a maximum apparent diameter of 17.2 arcseconds on 1 December, when Mars is closest to Earth. At this time it\u2019ll appear to shine at mag. \u20131.8.<\/p>\n

Photographing Mars at opposition<\/strong><\/h2>\n
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A comparison of Mars\u2019s apparent diameter when at opposition from 2016\u201335. Credit: Pete Lawrence<\/span><\/figcaption><\/div>\n

If you\u2019re wondering what the best way is to image Mars around opposition, the answer depends on what kit you have available.<\/p>\n

Smartphone<\/strong><\/h3>\n
\"""\"<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>
Mars, three ways: captured with (left to right) a smartphone, a DSLR and then a high-frame-rate camera with a large telescope. Credit: Pete Lawrence<\/span><\/figcaption><\/div>\n

The planet\u2019s impressive orange-hued, star-like dot should be relatively easy to photograph with a modern smartphone, even if it doesn\u2019t pick up many surrounding stars.<\/p>\n

Here, a good strategy is to catch Mars low in the sky, bringing foreground objects into the view to give the planet context.<\/p>\n

A bright Moon can be used to set the scene too. Grab a show of the full Moon near bright Mars, low above a visible horizon and you\u2019ll have a winning shot.<\/p>\n

Dates when this will happen are 10 and 11 November, and the nights of 7 and 8 December.<\/p>\n

Mars is occulted by the Moon<\/a> early on 8 December, so prepare to extend the evening session on 7 December into the early hours of the following morning for some real Moon\u2013Mars drama.<\/p>\n

For more advice, read our guide on how to photograph the night sky with a smartphone<\/a>.<\/p>\n

DSLR camera<\/strong><\/h3>\n
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Mars and the Pleiades, photographed by G\u00e1bor Szendr\u0151i, Hungary, 30 March 2019. Equipment: Canon EOS 700D DSLR camera, Leica APO-Telyt-R 3.4 \/ 180mm lens.<\/span><\/figcaption><\/div>\n

A DSLR or equivalent camera with a mid- to wide-angle lens will be able to capture some serious shots of Mars, with or without the Moon.<\/p>\n

The planet is currently moving fairly slowly through Taurus, a feature-rich part of the sky.<\/p>\n

Mid-angle lenses should capture the planet and most, if not all, of the <\/span>stars surrounding it.<\/span><\/p>\n

This includes the beautiful Pleiades<\/a> and<\/span> Hyades open clusters, as well as bright Aldebaran<\/a> (Alpha (\u03b1<\/span>) Tauri) which conveniently, for comparison purposes, also appears orange.<\/p>\n

A wide-angle lens could extend the sky coverage to include the Orion constellation<\/a> too.<\/p>\n

A DSLR or equivalent allows you to get a great shot of the general star-scene with Mars, using relatively short exposures on a fixed tripod.<\/p>\n

From a dark-sky site, consider using a tracking mount<\/a> to extend exposure time.<\/p>\n

This will allow you to reduce ISO, producing better colour tone and less noise in your images.<\/p>\n

It will also allow you to go deeper in terms of the stars and nebulosity that are revealed.\u00a0 \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Photograph Mars at opposition: step-by-step<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Equipment<\/span><\/strong><\/h3>\n
  • Camera<\/li>\n
  • Fixed or tracking mount<\/li>\n<\/ul> <\/body><\/html>\n
    ","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    By Pete Lawrence Published: Wednesday, 23 November 2022 at 12:00 am The excitement is increasing as Mars approaches opposition on 8 December. This is because Mars oppositions are a big deal. The term opposition describes when a planet appears on the other side of the sky to the Sun. Geometrically, this also means we\u2019re closer […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":24,"featured_media":38892,"template":"","categories":[34],"acf":{"readingTimeMinutes":"4"},"uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2022\/11\/how-to-photograph-mars-at-opposition.jpg",1200,773,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2022\/11\/how-to-photograph-mars-at-opposition-150x150.jpg",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2022\/11\/how-to-photograph-mars-at-opposition-300x193.jpg",300,193,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2022\/11\/how-to-photograph-mars-at-opposition-768x495.jpg",768,495,true],"large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2022\/11\/how-to-photograph-mars-at-opposition-1024x660.jpg",800,516,true],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2022\/11\/how-to-photograph-mars-at-opposition.jpg",1200,773,false],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2022\/11\/how-to-photograph-mars-at-opposition.jpg",1200,773,false]},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"importmanagerhub@sprylab.com","author_link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/author\/importmanagerhubsprylab-com\/"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"By Pete Lawrence Published: Wednesday, 23 November 2022 at 12:00 am The excitement is increasing as Mars approaches opposition on 8 December. This is because Mars oppositions are a big deal. The term opposition describes when a planet appears on the other side of the sky to the Sun. Geometrically, this also means we\u2019re closer…","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rss_feed\/38891"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rss_feed"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/rss_feed"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/24"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/38892"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=38891"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=38891"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}