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Mars Observing Data, Aug 2009 - Jul 2010

Moon nr Mars, Sep 2009 - Dec 2010

Mars Apparition 2011-2013

Mars Oppositions, 2012-27

The Martian Seasons


 The Mars Apparition of 2009-2010

by Martin J. Powell

 

Star map showing the path of Mars from August 2009 to July 2010. Click for full-size version, 129 KB (Copyright Martin J Powell 2009)

The path of Mars against the background stars of Gemini, Cancer and Leo from August 2009 to July 2010, shown at 10-day intervals (click for full-size version, 129 KB). The planet's path from mid-July 2010 is continued on the Venus 2010 chart. During this apparition, Mars described a typical, Northward-facing loop, differing somewhat from the hybrid formation (half-loop, half-zigzag) of the 2007-8 period. A close-up of the planet's path through the M44 (Praesepe) star cluster is shown below.

The star map applies to observers in the Northern hemisphere (i.e. North is up); for the Southern hemisphere view, click here (134 KB; the Southern hemisphere chart should be used by observers situated south of the Tropic of Cancer [23½° North]). The Milky Way is shown in dark grey; the faintest stars shown on the map have an apparent magnitude of about +4.8. Printer-friendly versions of this chart are available for Northern (64 KB) and Southern hemisphere (65 KB) views. Astronomical co-ordinates of Right Ascension (longitude, measured Eastwards in hrs:mins) and Declination (latitude, measured in degrees North or South of the celestial equator) are marked around the border of the chart. For more details of other objects marked on the chart (e.g. star clusters, double stars and nebulae) see the Zodiacal Sky articles covering the Gemini region and Cancer & Leo regions.

Following superior conjunction on December 5th 2008 (when it passed directly behind the Sun) Mars emerged in the dawn sky in February 2009 as a relatively dim 'morning star', rising shortly before the Sun. Through the first half of 2009, the planet was best seen from the Southern hemisphere, although the planet's great distance and small apparent size during this period made it a disappointing sight when observed through telescopes. For Northern hemisphere observers, viewing circumstances were poor throughout the first half of 2009, with Mars appearing low down in the Eastern sky at dawn. Seen from the Northern hemisphere, Mars did not become a prominently visible object until late July 2009, by which time the long summer twilight was starting to recede and the planet was rising about four hours before the Sun. Viewing circumstances improved for both hemispheres as 2009 progressed.

From early 2009 through to August 2009, Mars moved steadily Eastwards (direct motion) through the following constellations, slowly brightening as its distance from Earth reduced:

Table showing the position and apparent magnitude of Mars for the early part of the 2009-2010 apparition (click for full-size image, 24 KB)

Table showing the position and apparent magnitude of Mars for the early part of the 2009-2010 apparition (click for full-size image, 24 KB). The magnitudes, diameters and solar elongations listed here refer to the middle of the period in question. Mars began the apparition far to the South in Sagittarius, then ascended the ecliptic (heading Northwards) from Capricornus through to Taurus. In this and the tables which follow, the rising and setting directions of the constellations listed can be found by referring to the zodiacal constellation rise-set direction table.

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On August 25th 2009, Mars crossed the boundary from Taurus, the Bull, into Gemini, the Twins. Mars brightened significantly from late September 2009 and its coloration began to appear more distinct. On October 12th 2009, the planet entered Cancer, the Crab, the faintest constellation of the zodiac and therefore the least easy to identify. From late October 2009 through to mid-May 2010, city-dwellers, struggling to discern Cancer under light-polluted skies, found Mars occupying the large, dark 'gap' in the night sky between Gemini and Leo; to find these two constellations from The Big Dipper (or The Plough), refer to the diagram here.

From late October to early November 2009, Mars crossed the star cluster Messier 44 (M44 or NGC 2632) commonly known as Praesepe (pronounced 'pree-SEE-pee') which is visible to the naked-eye as a hazy patch of light. City-dwellers detected the cluster easily with binoculars when panning the area of the sky immediately around Mars.

M44 (NGC 2632) commonly known as Praesepe or the Beehive Cluster (click for larger version, 7 KB)M44 (NGC 2632) commonly known as Praesepe or the Beehive Cluster (click for larger version, 7 KB).  Mars passed 'through' (i.e. in front of) M44 in late October/early November 2009 (click here to see the track of the planet, marked at 0h UT on each date, 10 KB). Mars later passed 1°.2 to the North of the cluster, while moving retrograde, in mid-April 2010. Stars in the pictures are visible down to about magnitude +8.3. North is up and East is to the left in both pictures.

On November 30th 2009, Mars entered Leo, the Lion, where it remained for the next six weeks. Mid-way through its vacation, on December 21st 2009, the planet reached its Eastern stationary point, five degrees South of the star Alterf (Greek letter Lambda Leonis, mag. +4.3). The Red Planet returned to Cancer on January 10th 2010, now moving retrograde (East to West).

Mars reached opposition (i.e. its brightest for this apparition) on the night of January 29th 2010. Note that, although opposition took place on this date, Mars' closest approach to the Earth (at 0.6639 Astronomical Units or 99.33 million kms) took place two days earlier - on January 27th 2010 - because of the planet's eccentric orbit.

At opposition, a planet is positioned directly opposite the Sun in the sky (rising around sunset and setting around sunrise) and is visible throughout the night. Its highest point in the sky is reached when it crosses the observer's meridian at local midnight (due South in the Northern hemisphere, due North in the Southern hemisphere). A list of maximum altitudes and directions of the planet at several opposition dates for various latitudes is given on the current Mars page.

With an apparent magnitude of -1.3 and a maximum apparent disk diameter of 14".1 (14.1 arcseconds, where 1 arcsecond = 1/3600th of a degree), Mars at this opposition was not as bright nor as large (when seen through a telescope) as it was at its previous opposition in December 2007, when the planet reached magnitude -1.6 and had an apparent diameter of 15".8. This is because, at the 2010 opposition, the planet was further away from the Earth than it was at the 2007 opposition.

At its next opposition in 2012, the Red Planet would be even further from the Earth, appearing smaller still (13".9) and fainter (mag. -1.2). At this time, Mars would be near the point in its orbit when it was most distant from the Sun (a point called aphelion); such oppositions are often referred to as aphelic oppositions (for more details, see the Mars Oppositions page).

Table of selected data relating to the brighter part of the Mars apparition of 2009-10 (click for full-size image, 124 KB)

Table of selected data relating to the brighter part of the Mars apparition of 2009-10 (click for full-size image, 124 KB). The data is listed at 10-day intervals, corresponding with the dates on the star map. The Central Meridian Longitude (provided for telescopic observers) is the Martian longitude which appeared at the centre of the disk when seen from the Earth at the time indicated (0h Universal Time, or 0h GMT). The data for the table was obtained from 'MegaStar', 'SkyGazer Ephemeris'  and 'Mars Previewer II' software and the Martian disk images were derived from NASA's Solar System Simulator. The Martian disks appear at the same scale as those in the Mars Opposition data table on the Mars Oppositions page.

Mars faded rapidly after opposition as its distance from Earth increased, but it remained visible for a further 10 months in the evening sky, slowly closing in on the setting Sun. Mars reached its Western stationary point in Western Cancer, 7°.2 North-west of Asellus Borealis and 7°.7 South-west of Pollux, on March 11th 2010. The planet left Cancer and entered Leo once more on May 12th 2010, where it stayed for a little over two months before entering Virgo on July 19th of that year.

By December 2010, Mars became lost from view in the dusk twilight. The planet's furthest distance from Earth for this apparition (2.3793 AU or 356 million kms) was reached on January 7th 2011, when its apparent diameter was a mere 3".9 across.

Table showing the position and apparent magnitude of Mars for the latter part of the 2009-10 apparition (click for full-size image, 19 KB)

Table showing the position and apparent magnitude of Mars for the latter part of the 2009-10 apparition (click for full-size image, 19 KB). The magnitudes, diameters and solar elongations again refer to the middle of the period in question. As the apparition drew to a close, Mars headed Southwards along the ecliptic, moving from Virgo through to Sagittarius, where the apparition had begun some 23 months previously.

Mars passed behind the Sun - at superior conjunction - on February 4th 2011. The 2011-2013 apparition began soon afterwards, which saw Mars in the constellation of Leo at its next opposition on March 3rd 2012 (for details, see the Mars 2011-13 page).

 [Terms in yellow italics are explained in greater detail in an associated article describing planetary movements in the night sky.]

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Moon near Mars Dates,

September 2009 to December 2010

The Moon is easy to find, and on one or two days in each month, it passes Mars in the sky. The following tables list the dates on which the Moon passed near the planet between September 2009 and December 2010:

Moon near Mars dates for the period from August 2009 to December 2010 (click for full-size image, 75 KB)Moon near Mars dates for the period from August 2009 to December 2010 (click for full-size image, 75 KB). The Date Range shows the range of dates worldwide (allowing for Time Zone differences across East and West hemispheres). Note that the Date, Time and Separation of conjunction (i.e. when the two bodies are at the same Right Ascension) are measured from the Earth's centre (geocentric) and not from the Earth's surface (times are Universal Time [UT], equivalent to GMT). The Sep. & Dir. column gives the angular distance (separation) and direction of the planet relative to the Moon, e.g. on April 22nd 2010 at 09:27 UT, Mars was positioned 4°.6 North of the Moon's centre. The Moon Phase shows whether the Moon was waxing (between New Moon and Full Moon), waning (between Full Moon and New Moon), at crescent phase (less than half of the lunar disk illuminated) or gibbous phase (more than half but less than fully illuminated).

Lovers' Conjunction, TenerifeLovers' Conjunction  On August 13th 2010, during the closing months of Mars' 2009-10 apparition, an interesting grouping of the Moon and planets took place in the evening sky (click on the thumbnail for a full-sized picture [63 KB] and click here [52 KB] to identify the stars and planets). This is the author's simulation of how the event might have appeared from the island of Tenerife in the Canary islands (Islas Canarias) around 10 pm Local Time (22:00 Western European Summer Time or 21:00 UT), some two hours after local sunset.

Looking West, the three-day-old Moon, Venus (mag. -4.3) and Saturn (mag. +0.9) formed a line spanning 13°.6 across which appeared almost parallel with the local horizon. Mars (mag. +1.5) was positioned 2°.7 above (Northeast) of the trio, having just passed conjunction with the Moon (see table above). The group were situated in central Virgo at the time, a short distance to the South of the star Porrima (mag. +3.8). Mercury (mag. +0.6) was also visible for a short while earlier that evening, low down in the West some 16° to the West of Saturn (below and to the right of Saturn in the picture).

The Moon, Venus and Saturn sank below the horizon, within a five minute period, around 23:00 Local Time. Mars, now much dimmer and distant than in previous months, set about nine minutes later.

Seen from the rest of the world, the angle of the Moon and the planets in relation to an observer's horizon varied according to the observer's latitude (Tenerife is situated at 28° 20' North). The position of the Moon itself in relation to the planets also varied depending upon the local time at which the grouping was observed (Image based on a photograph at Wikipedia).

The Moon moves relatively quickly against the background stars in an Eastward direction, at about its own angular width (0º.5) each hour (about 12º.2 per day). Because it is relatively close to the Earth, an effect called parallax causes it to appear in a slightly different position (against the background stars) when seen from any two locations on the globe at any given instant; the further apart the locations, the greater the Moon's apparent displacement against the background stars. Therefore, for any given date and time listed in the table, the Moon will have appeared closer to Mars when seen from some locations than others. For this reason, the dates shown in the table should be used only for general guidance.

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The Position of Mars, 2009-10 (Desktop Site)

The Naked-Eye Planets in the Night Sky

Planetary Movements through the Zodiac


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Copyright  Martin J Powell  June 2009


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