Mars is the planet to watch in December as it has very good vantage points. It is visible all night and is very high in the sky at midnight because it is on the opposite side of the sky from the Sun. Once every 26 months, Mars comes very close to Earth, and depending on this event, research missions to the Red Planet are also launched.

Mars and Earth – from 53 to 401 million km

On December 8, the planet Mars will be in opposition, when the Sun, Earth and Mars will be on the same row. Unfortunately the weather forecast isn’t too great and it looks like there will be a few cloudy nights.

• Mars – the story of humanity’s fascination with the Red Planet and why this cold, barren and deadly place is so appealing to us

A year on Mars is two Earth years, and a day is 24 hours. Mars is much smaller than Earth (one-tenth the mass of Earth), and the average temperature is -65 degrees, compared to +15 degrees on Earth.

If two planets had perfectly circular orbits, the minimum distance between them would always be the same, but since the orbits are elliptical, the distance varies enormously. And the gravitational pull somewhat changes the shape of the orbit: for example, Jupiter affects the orbit of Mars.

• Why we are looking for signs of life on Mars and what it will mean for humanity if we find it

The shortest distance between Mars and Earth, 54.6 million kilometers, was reached in 2003, and then this distance was the smallest in the last 60,000 years, and the two planets of the solar system will not be this close until 2287. In October 2020, Mars was at a distance of 62 million km from Earth, in December 2022 – 81 million km.

When Mars is this close, it becomes extremely bright in the night sky, being the second brightest celestial body after the Moon during this period.

The average distance between Mars and the Earth is 225 million km, and the maximum: 401 million km.

Mars in December 2022 – when to see it and how to recognize it

In December, you should watch Mars because it has very good positions for observations. It can be seen all night, and at midnight it is very high in the sky because it is on the opposite side of the sky from the Sun, writes the Bucharest Astronomical Observatory.

Confrontations occur every 2 years and a few months, and the next one will not happen until 2025.

This is the time when Mars is even closer to Earth, so it is brightest and appears large in a telescope.

• How much it will cost to get to Mars, how we can change the Red Planet, and why we’re NOT there yet

The opposition comes on December 8, but Mars is equally visible throughout the month. The apparent diameter of the planet during the confrontation will be 17 arcseconds.

To see it in the sky, look about 6 o’clock to the east where a bright star is visible. Or look around 8:00 PM higher in the sky, still to the east, or at midnight in the sky, to the south. Either way, you should see an extremely bright orange star that doesn’t flicker. This is Mars.

The moon passes by Mars in the evenings of December 7 and 8.

Saturn and Jupiter

Saturn is visible in the evening sky as it becomes evening until 9:00 p.m., when it sets.

Saturn is still easy to find: look to the southwest at about 8 o’clock and you’ll see the star just above the horizon. This is Saturn. If it doesn’t twinkle, it’s probably Saturn, but there aren’t any stars that bright in the area it’s in anyway.

Jupiter is still visible. At 19:00 high in the sky, to the south. Look in this direction at this time and you will see a very bright star. This is Jupiter. Over the next few hours, you’ll be able to watch it ride off into the sunset. The planet sets at midnight.

December sky

The night sky in December contains constellations that are part of the Perseus myth. Constellations stretch from the western horizon to the upper part of the planet, explain the constellations from the astronomical observatory of Admiral Vasile Urceanu.

The hero, Perseus, is high in the sky in the east, near the zenith (overhead). He turns to Andromeda, whom he saves. Not far from them is the W-shaped constellation of Cassiopeia, Andromeda’s mother.

The brightest star in Perseus is Mirphax (alpha Perseus) and is easily identified as the bright star below Cassiopeia. The second brightest star in Perseus is called Algol (Eye of the Devil), a star whose brightness changes over time due to the mutual occultation of the two stars. The location of Algol represents the position of the head of Medusa, the monster beheaded by Perseus and used to destroy the sea monster that threatened Andromeda.

The monster is Cetus, whose head is located in the south. The two stars of the constellation are brighter, they are located to the southwest of the Pleiades and closer to the southwestern horizon. The star southwest of the Pleiades is Menkar. It symbolizes the nostril of a whale, and its name actually means “nostril”.

Between Cassiopeia and the star Mirphak is the “Double Cluster of Perseus”, a cluster of stars 7,000 light-years from the Sun. The naked eye can distinguish a diffuse spot in this place, but tens and hundreds of stars become visible through astronomical instruments.

Another character in the story is Pegasus, a winged horse. It is located in the west and can be defined as a large area.