The planets Mars and Uranus will stage an especially close encounter the next couple of mornings. Uranus is quite faint, but its proximity to Mars can help you pick it out.
Uranus is a giant – about four times the diameter of Earth. But it’s so far away that it’s faint. Under especially dark skies, people with good eyesight can just make it out. Moonlight or light pollution mask it from view, so you need binoculars to find it.
And even then, it looks like a meager star, perhaps with a hint of blue-green. Methane in its upper atmosphere absorbs red light, so only the blue and green can reach us.
Mars is much smaller – only a bit more than half of Earth’s diameter. But it’s also much closer, which makes it easier to see.
Even with the eye alone, it’s no problem to make out the planet’s orange color. That’s produced by iron oxide in the rocks and the tiny dust grains that coat much of the surface. That color will become easier to make out over the coming months, as Earth and Mars get closer and closer.
For now, look for Mars low in the east-northeast beginning a little before dawn. It’s quite easy to make out. Tomorrow, Uranus will stand a little to the lower left of Mars, so both of them will fit in a binocular field of view. And Uranus will be even closer above Mars on Saturday – a faint giant appearing to almost touch the Red Planet.
We’ll talk about a much brighter planet tomorrow.
Script by Damond Benningfield