|
Credit & Copyright: Tunc Tezel
(TWAN)
Explanation:
This composite of images spaced a weather-permitting 5 to 9 days apart,
from 2024 September 19 (top right)
through 2025 May 18 (bottom left), faithfully traces
ruddy-colored Mars
as it makes a clockwise loop through the constellations Gemini and Cancer in
planet Earth's night sky.
You can connect the dots and dates
with your cursor over the image, but be sure to check out
this animation of the
Red Planet's 2024/25 retrograde motion.
Of course Mars didn't actually reverse the direction of its orbit.
Instead, the apparent backwards motion with respect to the background
stars is a reflection of the orbital motion of Earth itself.
Retrograde motion
can be seen each time Earth overtakes
and laps planets orbiting farther from the Sun, the
Earth moving more rapidly through its own relatively close-in orbit.
In this case
Mars' apparent eastward motion began to reverse around December 8,
when it seemed to linger near
open star cluster M44 in Cancer.
After wandering back to the west, under Gemini's bright stars
Castor and Pollux, Mars returned to pose near M44 by early May.
At its brightest
near opposition
on 2025 January 16, Mars was a mere
96 million kilometers away.
|
January February March April May |
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
NASA Web Site Statements, Warnings, and Disclaimers
NASA Official: Jay Norris. Specific rights apply.
A service of: LHEA at NASA / GSFC
& Michigan Tech. U.
Based on Astronomy Picture
Of the Day