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This is the big summer of March. The most exciting planet on Earth is already closer – and brighter, and larger in telescopes – than any other time in 15 years. The golden, golden flame of Mars is now lit to become the brightest spot of light ever seen in the hours of the deepest night.
You may not have seen Mars yet because it was late. But in the coming weeks Mars is rising quickly earlier in the evening – entering the main scene for the climax of its big show.
Our next column, in two weeks, will be entirely devoted to Mars as the planet reaches its closest Earth. But we also need to discuss three really spectacular pairs of celestial objects that we can see in these next two weeks.
Although people have long called Mars the red planet, its color to the naked eye is very similar to that of a campfire. a mixture of orange mainly but also gold. No other bright planet has such an intense color. Combining this with the fact that the planets do not twink as much as the stars makes Mars a stable and imposing mbad of radiance that looks at us from the space.
When night falls in the next few weeks, do not confuse Venus and Jupiter for Mars. Venus, the brightest of the planets, is never visible more than a few hours after sunset – or before sunrise – so, indeed, we see it quite low in the west towards 9 hours-22 hours. these next few weeks. At about the same time, as the darkness begins to deepen, look for very bright Jupiter in the south or south-southwest. Jupiter is almost always the second brightest planet. But from next week and until mid-September, Mars eclipses Jupiter – all the more so by the end of July. And when Mars joins Jupiter and Venus in the sky? Tuesday night, Mars gets up around 22:30. Next Tuesday, March arrives around 22 hours. And just after the middle of the month, the inflamed world rises around 9:30 pm
This progression of about half an hour earlier each week is unusual. Mars is doing this now because it is engaging in a fast "retrograde movement" – a move backwards compared to the background stars. Mars is not really backing up this summer, of course. What's really going on, it's an amazing trick: just as we see a slower car as we cruise drifting backwards against a background of trees or distant buildings, we see Mars, slower than Earth, drifting to the rear
Telescopic Views, Martian dust storm
By the 10th of July, Mars is quite high in the southeast between midnight and 1 am for a good look through even rather small telescopes – including a view at this time of the most prominent dark surface element of Mars, Syrtis Major. The only problem with seeing even the triangular Syrtis Major and the flaming south-white ice cap now in your telescope is the almost planetary Martian dust storm. This storm erupted last month and seems to be faded, but the dust left in the Martian atmosphere can at least slightly cloud the features of the Martian surface for most of those two months.
is located less than a little finger at an arm's length below the luminous lighthouse of Venus.
From 4 to 5 o'clock in the morning, on July 10, you have to look east to see a truly spectacular show. A thin crescent moon will have the brightest star of Taurus, Aldebaran, shining as little as one-sixth of the apparent width of the moon from the lowest point of the lunar crescent for people in New Jersey. In case of haze, the binoculars will be of great help.
Last but easier and grander, at the twilight of July 15, the thin crescent moon stands close to the brilliant Venus. Do not miss.
Fred Schaaf is a local author and astronomer. He can be contacted at [email protected]
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