{"id":65072,"date":"2024-10-31T11:19:08","date_gmt":"2024-10-31T11:19:08","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/6cf0793e-1322-4cf1-a43a-3a3d2d20ff3b"},"modified":"2024-10-31T12:40:41","modified_gmt":"2024-10-31T12:40:41","slug":"mars-retrograde-2024-see-the-red-planet-in-reverse","status":"publish","type":"rss_feed","link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/rss_feed\/mars-retrograde-2024-see-the-red-planet-in-reverse\/","title":{"rendered":"Mars retrograde 2024. See the Red Planet in reverse"},"content":{"rendered":"

How to observe and photograph Mars as it reverses its apparent motion against the stars. <\/p>

By Pete Lawrence\n <\/p>

Published: Thursday, 31 October 2024 at 11:19 AM<\/p>

\n\n

Mars retrograde begins on 6 December 2024, when, if you observe the planet in the run-up, it will appear to stop and reverse its apparent direction in the sky.<\/p>

This retrograde motion of Mars will last between 6 December 2024 until 23 February 2025.<\/p>

The illusion is caused by the relative position and speed of Mars in its orbit compared to Earth: our faster orbit allows us to overtake Mars, and this creates the looped path in the sky.<\/p>

The term planet comes from the Ancient Greek meaning \u2018wandering star\u2019.<\/p>

They\u2019re called this simply because, looking to the naked eye like stars, they appear to wander against the background of fixed constellations.<\/p>

All the planets appear to perform retrograde<\/a> loops, decreasing in apparent size with distance from Earth.<\/p>

The \u2018retrograde loop\u2019 of Mars, an illusion of reverse apparent motion, occurs between two stationary points. This diagram shows Mars’s apparent retrograde on 10 September and 16 November 2020. Credit: Pete Lawrence <\/figcaption> <\/figure>

And this is the key point: it is Mars\u2019s close proximity that makes its opposition and retrograde loop really impressive.<\/p>

You can reveal the loop by photographing Mars against background stars with a mid- to wide-angle lens on a camera.<\/p>

\"Chart
Chart showing Mars retrograde in 2024 and its meeting with the Beehive Cluster. Credit: Pete Lawrence <\/figcaption> <\/figure>

Take a photograph on every clear night through to the end of the year, load each into a layer-based editor like GIMP and align using the stars.<\/p>

Set the blend mode of all upper layers to lighten and Mars will show through, revealing the loop.<\/p>

In 2024 and 2025, Mars’s retrograde loop will bring it close to the Beehive Cluster, making for a great photograph opportunity.<\/p>

\"Mars
Mars and the Beehive Cluster, photographed by Pete Lawrence <\/figcaption> <\/figure>

Photograph Mars retrograde loop<\/strong><\/h2>

It\u2019s possible to show Mars retrograde against the background stars using a camera. The basic idea isn\u2019t that complicated.<\/p>

The stars are your reference markers and, as long as you have three or more common stars recorded across shots, it’s possible to align your images to show how Mars is moving between them.<\/p>

It\u2019s exciting to collect yet another Mars positional image to add to the set.<\/p>

Add them all together as described below and you\u2019ll have an amazing record of the temporarily backward motion of Mars in the sky.<\/p>

For this project you will need:<\/strong><\/p>