Mars returns to easy viewing late October 2007
The rust-like color of Mars comes from the large amount of iron in the planet's soil. Credit: NASA/JPL/Malin Space Science Systems
Tuesday, October 30, 2007.
The planet Mars is finally returning to easy viewing in the evening sky. Mars is very bright now, and it’ll be easy to find tonight close to the waning gibbous moon.
Mars will look like a bright reddish star near tonight’s moon. At mid-northern latitudes like those in the U.S., the moon and Mars will rise over your eastern horizon around mid-evening tonight. Meanwhile, at middle latitudes in the southern hemisphere, the moon and Mars will rise at late evening or after midnight. For all of us around the globe, as Earth spins eastward on its axis throughout the night, the moon and Mars will climb upward and westward in the sky. They’ll reach their highest point in the sky during the wee hours tomorrow – about 4 hours after local midnight.
So if you’d rather see Mars before dawn, that’ll work, too. You’ll have a fine view of the moon and Mars in the predawn sky tomorrow morning. Incidentally, the two stars near the moon and Mars tonight are Castor and Pollux, the brightest stars in the constellation Gemini the Twins.
For the rest of this year, Mars will rise several minutes earlier every night. It’ll steadily get brighter. By late December, Earth will be passing between Mars and the sun. As a result, Mars will rise at sunset and light up the sky all night long.
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The planet Mars by Bill Arnett
Rising times of the moon and Mars – Old Farmer’s Almanac
Rising times of the moon and Mars – US Naval Observatory
Photo of the constellation Gemini by Jim Kaler
Gemini in history and myth by Anne Wright
The star Castor by Jim Kaler
The star Pollux by Jim Kaler
I would hazard to disagree “the earth spins eastward”..it must spin westward for the sun to “rise” in the east.
JM
Hi Jon, the sun spins toward the east. Imagine you are facing east. The sun is spinning TOWARD the east … toward the direction you are facing. Its spin causes the sun to rise over the eastern horizon.
If the Earth were spinning toward the west, the sun would rise in the west.
All best,
Deborah
Jon,
Because the Earth spins eastward on its axis, the sun appears to travel westward across the sky. The rotating Earth causes the stars and planets to travel westward across the sky, too!
Thanks for writing to Earth & Sky!
Bruce
I think I can see Mars in the morning. Is it high in the sky above Orion?
Bob … correct! Mars is getting really bright!
Getting up kind of late this morning @ 0430 in Fairfield, CT, I was disappointed I’d miss much of the action of the pre-peak Orionids meteor shower, so, I made coffee, looked outside and wow, a crystal clear sky.
Topping my cup of joe, I went outside by 0450, for fifteen minutes, waiting for the fireballs, nothing, maybe a couple tiny streaks of meteors but the planets and constellations were very bright, beautiful and were’nt even obscured by the streetlight on the corner, so I just stood there in awe of Gods creations.
Mars was above Orion with a bright glow of orange red, off to the east was what I believed to be Saturn. I’m a beginner to astronomy, I’m still learning whats up there.
Not expecting to see many meteors, I simply enjoyed all that was in the sky, then my eyes just happened to be looking straight up, a satelite passed for 20 seconds with the brightness of a star, then it passed into darkness. Maybe it was the ISS? I’ll have to check NASA’s schedule. but that was cool, I’ve seen satelites before, but not as bright and long as this sighting was.
Right after that as my eyes were still trained to the right of Orion, a fireball came right out of the hunter with a long, bright wide tail, the head appeared just as the name “fireball” implies, it traveled to what seemed to be right down to the horison.
Over my fourty seven years, I’ve seen some really awesome meteors, but this one I could swear, made a crackling sound like crumpling cellophane and then a dull thud. ABSOLUELY AMAZING!
It makes me ponder of how fragile and precious life really is, and how great an immagination God must have to create such wonderous spectacles.
Kevin,
Good to hear your story! Yes, a meteor shower is a great excuse to spend the night with the stars! Enjoying the soft luminescence of the Milky Way, planets, star clusters and nebulae, I almost forgot about the meteors – till they came zinging by . . .
It saddens me that so many people in the modern world have never seen the night sky with dark-adapted eyes. They don’t know what they’re missing!
Bruce
HAHA
Prior to discovering from your site that it is really Venus I have been viewing in the early morning eastern sky, a friend inquired how I would know if that bright light was a star, planet or satellite? Any thoughts that I might forward on? Thank you.
Hello Lorraine,
Yes, it’s Venus you’re seeing in the east before dawn. Mars never gets as bright as Venus. But it’s pretty bright now … and you can find Mars high in the southwest before dawn.
Clear skies,
Deborah
Hey,
I’m located in Dallas, Texas. Do you know appoximately what time I should look outside so I don’t miss seeing Mars? Any information you could give me would be much appreciated. Thanks for your time.
-Zach
Zach,
This Old Farmer’s almanac tells you what time Mars rises in Dallas.
Bruce
In viewing the early morning sky this morning a large circle was around the moon, what exactly is that and why does it occur?
Lorraine,
For information about that large circle around the moon, I refer you to this past radio show, entitled “What causes a lunar halo?”
Bruce