NJ Night Sky: Here comes Mars

Mars is now a beacon of red light in the southeast sky. If it seems unusually bright - it is! The red planet hasn't been this close to us since 2003.

Yesterday Mars was at opposition. At this point, the planet is opposite of the sun and is in the sky all night long. You can easily spot Mars in the southeast sky. It should be above the treetops around 10:30 p.m. It is highest in the south at 1:15 a.m. and should be visible until 4 a.m. in the southwest sky.

Mars is closest to Earth on Tuesday. It will be 35.8 million miles away from us. It hasn't been this close to us in 15 years and won't be again until 2035. However, don't fixate on the close approach. Mars is at maximum size now and will remain this way through Aug. 18. You have plenty of time to view it.

As Mars approaches, astronomers are concerned about the weather. Not just here on Earth, but on Mars, too. This week we've had some rainy summer weather which is forecast to continue into next week, potentially spoiling our view of the night sky. Meanwhile, on Mars, there is a major dust storm in progress. The storm has been raging for more than a month and has blanketed nearly the entire planet in dust. There's so much dust in the atmosphere that details are being hidden from view. The dust is also blocking sunlight from reaching the solar panels on NASA's rover Opportunity, causing it to remain asleep since June 10 (the nuclear powered rover Curiosity continues to operate during the storm).

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Side-by-side movies shows how dust has enveloped the Red Planet, courtesy of the Mars Color Imager camera onboard NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO).

NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS

Dust storms such as this are not unusual for Mars. About every 6-to-8 years, a small storm can grow so large that it encircles the entire planet. The last time we saw this happen was in 2007. This storm started very early (May 30) and has been going strong since June 20. Only recently have scientists seen signs of the storm starting to weaken, but some estimate the storm could last until early September.

The nice thing about observing Mars is that you don't need dark skies. You just need a good view to the south. A telescope with a magnification of 75-to-100 power will be necessary to get a view of any details. As mentioned, dust will likely be hiding some of the dark dusky features we would usually see on the Martian surface. The southern ice cap should be visible despite the storm.

Parade of Planets

Even if this storm is impairing our view of the red planet, keep in mind we still do have a wonderful view of the parade of planets that is current stretching across the summer sky.

The four brightest planets are spread across the summer sky. At around 9:30 p.m., you can see Venus, Jupiter, Saturn and Mars spread across the southern half of the sky, from the west to the southeast.Starrynight.com

Venus is losing altitude now but it is still easily visible in the western sky after sunset. You should be able to spot it as soon as it starts to get dark. Jupiter is not nearly as bright but can be easily located in the southwest sky. It is in the constellation Libra. The best time to view is between 9 and 11 p.m. The Great Red Spot is visible tonight around 11:30 p.m., then again on Tuesday at 9 p.m. and Thursday at 10:30 p.m.

Although not as bright as the other planets, Saturn rules the southern sky. It is located right above the lid of the teapot shape in the constellation Sagittarius. Its spectacular rings are visible even at low magnification. And then, as mentioned, Mars is low in the southeast sky after sunset in the constellation Capricornus.

These four make for a nice planetary display - don't miss it!

Kevin D. Conod is the planetarium manager and astronomer at the Newark Museum's Dreyfuss Planetarium. For updates on the night sky, call the Newark Skyline at (973) 596-6529.

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