Northern Hemisphere stargazers are in for a treat this week as Mars has reached its closest point to Earth, offering the best view of the red planet until the 2030s. Mars moved closer to Earth on the night of November 30-December 1, but the best views are yet to come as the planet reaches a point called opposition on the night of December 7-8. Opposition is when Mars is directly opposed. the sun as seen from Earth, which means that’s when Mars will be at its brightest.
The reason closest approach and opposition are only a few days apart is because of the elliptical nature of the planets’ orbits. Neither Earth nor Mars orbits in a perfect circle around the sun, so there are times when they are a little closer or a little farther away. These small differences account for the few days of lag between closest approach and opposition. The elliptical nature of Mars’ orbit is also why there will be such a fantastic view of the planet this week. Mars won’t return this close to Earth until 2033.
Mars finder chart on December 8. Stuart Atkinson
This diagram from the UK’s Royal Astronomy Society shows how to locate Mars in the night sky on the night of December 8. Mars should be one of the brightest objects in the sky, so if you’re lucky enough to have a clear night, then you should be able to spot the planet easily with binoculars or a telescope. At this point, Mars will be about 50 million miles away.
December 8 is also a good time to look for Mars, as you may be able to see the moon moving in front of the planet, called an occultation, depending on where you are in the Northern Hemisphere. For the exact time to watch for this event by region of the US, go to Sky and Telescope for more information.
According to Sky at Night magazine, you should be able to observe Mars using almost any telescope, but adding a Barlow lens to your setup will give you a better view and enhance the darkest and brightest patches of the planet. You may be able to see features on Mars like its polar caps, patches of light and darkness called albedo features, and maybe even certain large geological features like basins and plains.
Some of the most dramatic views of Mars will be on the night of December 8, but if that doesn’t work out for you, you should also look in the sky the week before and after that date, as you should still be able to. then he has a good view.
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