Planets on Parade!
Mind Bending | July 1, 2018
Barlow SkyWatch: Opposition Series Part 3
By Alan J Peche, Director, Barlow Planetarium
In May, we began the Opposition Series by learning that this summer the Earth will be passing Mars, Jupiter and Saturn – causing what astronomers call an “opposition”.
We have already experienced the May and June oppositions that occurred when the Earth was directly between the Sun and each opposition planet. This month, the opposition planet is Mars – Mars will rise when the Sun sets and set when the Sun rises. All three oppositions occur when the planets are the closest and the brightest to us on Earth, which makes this series extra special. The Jupiter opposition occurred on May 8, the Saturn opposition occurred on June 27 and, this month, we will observe the final opposition – Mars.
JULY 27: MARS Opposition
This will be the highlight of 2018. That last time Mars was closer was on August 27, 2003 – at a distance of 34,646,418 miles – the closest it was in nearly 60,000 years, during the time of Neanderthals. This year it will be 35,785,537 miles at its closest approach a few days after opposition.
There will be a lot of emails circulating about Mars saying INACCURATE things like “it will be as big as a full moon.” Actually, through a telescope at typical power, you will be able to see features on Mars like you were looking a full moon without a telescope. Mars through a telescope will look like a full Moon without a telescope. In 1988 I remember seeing the reddish color on Mars slightly changing from night to night – I later found out I was observing dust storms on another planet. WITHOUT A TELESCOPE!
JULY & AUGUST INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION (ISS)/SATELLITE EVENTS
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TO GET A CURRENT SKYCHART
Visit the Skymaps link under the “Astronomy Resources” link at BarlowPlanetarium.org.
Each month, the Barlow Planetarium, Wisconsin’s first major planetarium, provides interesting science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) topics for students of all ages.
