The Red Planet was at its closest to Earth on November 30, when an astro-photographer captured its stunning image and shared it online. Mars appeared bigger and brighter in the sky, creating an excellent opportunity for sky watchers to observe the planet. Andrew McCarthy, who loves to “explore the universe from a backyard in Arizona", ensured that he doesn’t miss out on this one and how!
Mars made its closest approach, known as perigee, to the Earth as it was known to become accessible at around 5:43 p.m. EST on November 30 in New York City when it reached the altitude of seven degrees above the horizon to the northeast, according to space.com. Meanwhile, the Red Planet reached its highest point at 12:29 a.m. EST on December 1 when it would appear 74 degrees above the southern horizon.
Having known about the rare sight that occurred after August 2003, Andrew captured the magnificent image of Mars and highlighted the northern polar ice cap of the planet. “Mars is at its closest to Earth. Here’s a photo I captured of it last night using a 14" telescope. You can clearly see the northern polar ice cap! I’m working hard to learn to overcome the challenges of planetary photography to bring you the best images of Mars at opposition," read the caption. The northern polar cap of Mars is known as Planum Boreum. These, along with southern polar caps, make dramatic changes with the seasons.
Mars is at it’s closest to Earth. Here’s a photo I captured of it last night using a 14" telescope. You can clearly see the northern polar ice cap! I’m working hard to learn to overcome the challenges of planetary photography to bring you the best images of Mars at opposition. pic.twitter.com/Dm4y1Pguad— Andrew McCarthy (@AJamesMcCarthy) November 30, 2022
The photographer also shared the images of Jupiter and Saturn that he captured when they were closer to Earth. He stated, “These are my shots of Jupiter and Saturn when they were closer. They’re much larger in the sky than Mars, so getting details isn’t quite as challenging but still incredibly daunting.”
These are my shots of Jupiter and Saturn when they were closer. They’re much larger in the sky than Mars, so getting details isn’t quite as challenging but still incredibly daunting. This is also “November" in my 2023 Celestial Calendar. https://t.co/7jnL2J9O2t pic.twitter.com/I6ga3LRuN3— Andrew McCarthy (@AJamesMcCarthy) November 30, 2022
In the meantime, this stunning image of Mars went viral on social media and grabbed the attention of users who found it “magnificent". “I saw the ice cap 2 years ago for the first time with my own eyes, through a 10cm telescope. It blew my mind,” wrote one user while another one commented, “As a professional astronomer, I want to say that this is the best earth-based image of Mars I’ve ever seen.”
Magnificent!I saw the ice cap 2 years ago for the first time with my own eyes, through a 10cm telescope. It blew my mind.https://t.co/eC1DXfdvb9— Moritz Lehmann (@ProjectPhysX) November 30, 2022
As a professional astronomer, I want to say that this is the best earth based image of Mars I’ve ever seen— Eric (@PhD_Dad) December 1, 2022
A lot of people ask what Mars looks like in real time (versus after some processing) Here it is in a straight video feed from my telescope. Its wiggling because of the atmosphere, and the processing is about removing that distortion. I’ll use this data to create an image later! pic.twitter.com/Rdy7sTEy92— Andrew McCarthy (@AJamesMcCarthy) December 1, 2022
Andrew even shared a GIF that depicted what Mars looks like in real-time.
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