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At Celestron, we want to share our excitement over this event with our customers. We have prepared this site to provide information on the upcoming opposition and to give some tips on how to get the best views of this historic event.
Celestron Mars Opposition Information Center
What
is an Opposition?
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What is an Opposition?
An object is at opposition when the Sun is on one side of the Earth and
the object is on the opposite side. The result is that the object is
fully illuminated by the Sun and appears like a disk. A full moon is
at opposition. It appears as a complete disk.
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When can I see the Mars Opposition?
- Mars will be its closest to Earth on August 27th, 2003 at 2:51 AM Pacific daylight time. (9:51 Universal time)
- Opposition occurs on August 28th, 2003 at 11:00 AM Pacific daylight time (18:00 Universal time)
- Best observing is from 10 PM to 2 AM on August 26th, 27th, and 28th.
- Good observing from July 27th to Sept 27th.
- April 15th, Mars doesn’t rise until 2:13AM.
- July 27th, Mars rises at 10:00PM.
- August 27th, Mars rises at 7:48PM
- September 27th, Mars rises at 5:24PM
Why is this exciting to Astronomers?
- Mars is a difficult planet to view because it is small and does not have a lot of contrasting features.
- During an opposition, Mars is at its closest and therefore will be at its largest.
- Opposition with Mars happens about every two years.
- This opposition will place Mars the closest it has been in recorded history. This will be the best opportunity to view Mars that mankind has ever seen. THAT IS EXCITING!
Mars will appear as a red disk. There will be some surface
detail showing up as dark patches. Also visible will be the white polar
caps.
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Mars through an ocular (eyepiece) with 7 arc minute FOV equal to 400x |
Mars through an ocular (eyepiece) with 14 arc minute FOV equal to 200x |
Where can I see it?
Anywhere on Earth. But it is best to be at lower latitudes so that Mars is up as high as possible in the sky. That way you are looking through less atmosphere which degrades the image.
What equipment is needed to see the opposition
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Which accessories would be helpful
High Power oculars
Omni Series X-Cel Series Ultima Barlow Lens: Barlow lens are designed to magnify the power of an existing ocular/telescope combination. With a Barlow, each of your eyepieces now has two powers for which it can be used. Omni 2x, 1 ¼” Barlow – 93326: Fully multi-coated short tube design Ultima 2x, 1 ¼” Barlow – 93506: Three-element
apochromatic design, 27mm of clear aperture, and fully multi-coated. Increase Contrast Contrast-booster Filter 1-1/4” – 94121: Used for refractors, the contrast booster filters out chromatic aberration (seen as a purple halo around bright objects) inherent in refractors. When looking at planets, removing the chromatic aberrations improves the contrast dramatically. Eyepiece & Filter Set – 94303: This set comes with 6 color filters, a 2x Barlow and 5 superior grade Plossl eyepieces. Included are a 4mm, 6mm, 9mm, 15mm, and 32mm focal lengths along with a 2x Barlow. The filters increase your contrast and the oculars and the Barlow provide needed magnification to optimize your telescope for viewing Mars. |
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Why is this opposition special?
- Mars is on an elliptical orbit. Earth is on a fairly
circular orbit.
When Mars' orbit is closest to the Sun (a point called perihelion), Mars' orbit is also closest to Earth's orbit. - This opposition is occurring within three days
of Mars' perihelion. (i.e., the orbits of Earth and Mars' will be at
their closest). This is the closest Mars has been to Earth in 73,000
years.
How much bigger is Mars during this opposition?
How does this compare to other Mars oppositions?
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