SkyEye

The upper chart shows the path of Mars across the background stars over the course of the year. Stars to magnitude +4.5 are shown with some fainter objects included to complete constellation patterns. The white circles represent the planet on the first day of the month and are scaled according to apparent magnitude. The faint paths before the first circle and after the last circle represent the planet's positions in December of last year and January of next. In general, the planet moves from right to left except when it's in retrograde and proceding in the opposite direction.

The lower chart shows how the appearance of Mars changes over the year. Below each image is listed the date, the apparent magnitude, the apparent diameter of the disk (in arc-seconds), the geocentric distance (in au) and the percentage of the disk which is illuminated. Note that Mars appears distinctly gibbous near the times of quadrature.

It is a quiet year for the red planet, with Mars reaching neither conjunction (last November) nor opposition (next January). The rocky planet lingers in the morning sky for the first seven or eight months of the year, beginning in the constellation of Sagittarius and steadily working its way through the zodiac to arrive in Cancer in October. Mars passes by a number of interesting deep sky objects in early January but the planet is buried deep in the morning twilight at the time. Southern hemisphere observers will have the best chance to watch Mars skim past faint Neptune in April. Mars finally begins to appear in the east before midnight in August or September, depending upon the observer's latitude, with viewing opportunities improving toward the end of the year.

All times and dates are in UT. Positions are geocentric apparent places, referred to the true equator and equinox of date.