Mars

Mars will be at opposition at 20:35 03 March 2012 UT. Mars will have a visual magnitude of -1.23, a size of about 13.9 arcseconds and be about 0.67 AU away from Earth in the constellation of Leo. Mars will appear as a bright red-orange object that should rise at about the same time the sun sets.

Sounds good so far right, easy target! Well the answer is yes and no. In a modest 3″ – 4″ backyard reflector Mars will appear as a bright reddish orange disk with some detail here and there depending on the sky conditions at that time. Under high magnification and good seeing you can tease out a polar cap and some surface detail when the conditions are right. Follow these steps to ensure your best viewing.

  • Choose a calm night with good seeing conditions. So long as the stars aren’t twinkling too much your chances of decent seeing even under a little haze are good.
  • Stay up late! Mars doesn’t rise high in the sky until later in the evening. Make sure Mars rises up past the atmospheric muck and skyglow for best results.
  • Use the highest magnification allowed by your scope. I would begin with magnification around 90x and work my way up until things get blurry then step back a bit.
  • Make sure your scopes mirror has become acclimated to the outside temperature. Once temperature has become steady on the mirror and tube your results will get better
  • Switch out some filters if you have them. Colors of yellow, orange, red, green and blue can tease out certain features such as Deserts, polar cap boundaries, cloud bands, etc… Your mileage may vary between filters but go for it!
  • Stay with it! Keep your eye on the planet and watch as conditions change on Mars and Earth. You may get glimpses of great clarity and the details will pop out at you. Stick with it for best results
  • Keep in mind that Mars is only twice as big as our moon, but as much as 200 times farther away during opposition.

 

If you can get a picture and send it to iskywatch.com so we can post it! We would love to hear your method of viewing mars as well. All posts are welcome…

If you are in the Chicagoland area try to stop by the Hickory Knolls Mars Madness party we are throwing that evening. Click here for details… Hickory Knolls

 

Clear Skies…

Rich Wagner

www.iskywatch.com