Mars at its brightest and closest point to Earth

• Published date: 03 December 2022
• Publication title: Mix, The

Rising in the northeast at sunset, Mars is directly opposite the sun in the sky, an event astronomers imaginatively call ‘‘opposition’’. As a consequence, Mars is visible all night long as a brilliant orange-red ‘‘star’’. It will be interesting to compare how the colour of Mars contrasts with that of Aldebaran and Betelgeuse, two nearby stars also described as orange-red in colour by keen stargazers

Because this close approach of Mars is in the northern constellation of Taurus, our view of the planet isn’t as good as that seen by northern hemisphere sky watchers. From Dunedin, Mars never gets higher than 20deg above the northern horizon. In northern tropical regions, the planet will pass overhead.

Despite its relatively low altitude, if you have a telescope, the next few nights are still a great time to look at Mars. It is highest in the sky just after 1.30am, which would therefore be the best time to look.

Even small...