The frigid winter nights bring the return of Mars, and it will shine tiger orange into the long night. Mars will not be as large or as bright as in recent years but will still draw attention. Mars is at opposition on January 15 when it will be up all night, but due to its highly elliptical orbit, it will be at its closest, largest, and brightest on January 12. On that date Mars will be 59.7 million miles from Earth, 14.6 arcseconds across, and will glimmer at magnitude -1.4. Even though Mars will be smaller than past oppositions it will be high in the sky above the worst atmospheric turbulence.

Mars is a favorite to observe because it is the only planet where details on a solid surface can be seen. It is a rusty desert world of windswept sand dunes, towering volcanoes, vast canyons and basins, craters, and two polar ice caps. These polar ice caps are the easiest to see and are composed of frozen water and carbon dioxide. During this opposition, the north polar ice cap will be dominant as it will be spring in Mars’ northern hemisphere, and it will be large since that pole will be tipped towards Earth and free of any haze. It should be possible to watch it slowly shrink as the approaching Martian summer causes it to sublimate, turning the solid ice into vapor. The south polar ice cap is experiencing autumn, has shrunk, and is tipped out of view as seen from Earth. All the familiar dark and bright features visible during prior oppositions will be visible, provided there are no dust storms. The darker, brownish areas are primarily dust-free rock outcrops with the largest and darkest being a wedge called Syrtis Major. Meridiani Planum, the eternal resting place of the forever silent Opportunity Rover, looks like a pipe with a bowl and stem. Solis Lacus looks like a dusky eye and is often nicknamed the Eye of Mars. Hellas is a deep impact basin over 1000 miles across that is filled with very fine, highly reflective dust that can be confused for clouds or the south polar ice cap. Mars demands extreme patience when it comes to observing; several nights of observing will train the eye to focus on detail. Larger telescopes will improve the view along with the use of orange or red filters. An orange-green filter combination will cut the glare and enhance the dusky surface features while closely preserving the natural color. Mars will be very high in the sky in Gemini where turbulence is minimal.

The first row of diagrams that follow shows a complete surface map of Mars with the most prominent features visible as well as the polar ice caps. Three different global views follow with the darkest and most prominent surface features shown. The dates in the third row indicate when these features will be nearly centered on Mars at 11 PM EDT (10 PM EST). These provide views for a few hours either way or a few days around the given dates. Since Mars rotates on its axis in 24 hours and 37 minutes, these features will shift throughout the night. The rotation rate from Syrtis Major to Sinus Meridiani is six hours. From Sinus Meridiani to Solis Lacus is another six hours. If Solis Lacus is visible, then it will be another twelve hours before Syrtis Major returns to view. The fourth row indicates the change in size and brightness for Mars during this apparition.

The best time to observe Mars is when it is larger than 10 arcseconds across. This will occur from November 11 through March 9, which will provide ample time to train the eye enough to make sketches, or to take photos or videos. The retrograde path of Mars among the stars from December 6 until February 24 can also be observed and plotted. Take note of the changing phase of Mars as it becomes noticeably gibbous by late March with only 90% of its disc lit by the Sun as seen from Earth.

Due to its very elliptical orbit, not all oppositions of Mars are favorable. This one is fair, but the next opposition on February 19, 2027, will be about as poor as it gets before growing better in 2029 and 2031. The opposition of June 27, 2033, will be the best one since 2018, but the best one since the historic 2003 opposition occurs on September 15, 2035, with Mars at an impressive 24.6 arcseconds across. Earth’s closest encounter with Mars occurs roughly every 26 months, so brave the cold and take advantage of this rendezvous!