On October 13, 2020, at 23:00 UTC (6 PM CDT), Earth passed directly between the Sun and Mars. And given the eccentricity in the two orbits, this was a close opposition. Even into November, the viewing has been good. My new telescope arrived on October 24, but I did go out earlier with my National Geographic 70 mm and view. “You can observe a lot just by watching,” said Yogi Berra.
I had seen and described Mars earlier, on 17 June 2017, at 21:21 CDT, and made my first sketch on 17 August 2018 at 23:15 hours, but forgot about those until I reviewed my notebook.
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| 00:15 HRS CDT 12 October 2020 National Geograph 70 mm f/10 |
Technically, Venus is the planet closest to Earth most of the time, but at opposition, especially when Venus is at inferior conjunction (on the other side of the Sun), Mars is closer still. That fact has been with me since I first saw Invaders from Mars (1953) on TV about 1960 or 61.
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Posted to Cloudy Nights “Mars – November/December 2020”
in “Observing/Solar System Observing”
on 17 November 2020 at 0954AM
Received reply: “Good sketch, Mike. You saw Syrtis Major and Mare Tyrrhenum” SpecialEd 17 November 2020 at 02:38 PM |
Unlike Venus which is covered in clouds, Mars has long enticed us with its changing surface features. I even have a Warner Brothers Marvin the Martian t-shirt and another with the Martian fleet from Mars Attacks (1996). My first narrative view of a Martian was in Assignment in Space by Blake Savage (a re-issue of Rip Foster Rides the Grey Planet, 1953).
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