Suppose you were standing on Mars, watching the planets go through their motions

Question

Suppose you were standing on Mars, watching the planets go through their motions. Could you use the same terminology as before to explain the configurations of other planets? Yes, you could the only difference would be that there is an additional inferior planet: the Earth. As an observer on Mars, you would see the Earth go through the same configurations as any other inferior planet. For example, when the Earth appears on the opposite side of the Sun as viewed from Mars, it is at superior conjunction. When the Earth appears at superior conjunction from Mars, at what configuration does Mars have as seen from Earth?

Explanation / Answer

Mars appears brightest at opposition, or about every 26 months. Opposition is when the Earth crosses the imaginary line between the Sun and Mars. This is also very near, but not exactly the same time as Earth and Mars make their closest approach to one another. For that reason Mars appears both brighter and larger.

The next opposition is on April 8, 2014. Due to the orbital geometries of Earth and Mars, some oppositions will be better than others. The very best oppositions occur when Mars is near perihelion, or closest to the sun. There will be a very favorable opposition in July 2018, at which time Mars will appear more than twice as bright as it does now.

Related Questions

Navigate

• Browse (All)
• Browse S
• Subjects

Integrity-first tutoring: explanations and feedback only — we do not complete graded work. Learn more.