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From n3kl.org
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What's up.doc

This is the best chance to see the planet for quite a few years, as it is at opposition on 7th November and will not be as close again until 2018. And because the planet is much higher in the sky now than during the very close approach of 2003, UK observers can actually see it much better than we did two years ago.

On 7th November, Mars is opposite the Sun in the sky and will be due south at midnight. It is at its closest on 30 October, when the planet will be just over 20 arc seconds in diameter. The planet is brilliant and unmistakable at magnitude -2.3, which rivals Jupiter (though Jupiter is not currently visible). Its pinkish colour also sets it aside from the other planets. You can c ompare its colour with the nearby red giant Aldebaran in Taurus.

As always when it is near opposition, Mars is currently in retrograde motion, apparently moving west instead of east, as a result of the Earth's faster movement in its orbit. You can see this very clearly by comparing Mars's position with the stars of Aries and the Pleiades cluster - it is moving at two thirds of a lunar diameter every day. However, the retrograde movement stops in the second week of December and it will start moving back towards the Pleiades. By chance, Saturn is also close to the other bright star cluster in our skies, the Beehive or Praesepe in Cancer. It will be at opposition at the end of January, so it is currently best seen after midnight. But by December it will be visible as a bright yellowish object in the eastern sky before midnight. As with Mars, you can follow its movement against the background of the stars quite easily, though Saturn's movement is slower than that of Mars.


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