Mars is the external planet, the neighbor of Earth, the fourth from the Sun, always drew attention of astronomers. But to find it, it is necessary to know not only the place of its heavenly registration, but also to consider the most favorable period of observation.
Instruction
1. The Babylon, Egyptian and Greek priests were the first observers who found Mars in the sky and described its orbit. They paid attention to the ""reddish star"" wandering on constellations of Cancer of ibliznets in east part of the heavenly sphere. Because of a specific red-orange shade Mars was given the status of ""a star of soldiers"". The first astronomers observed Mars without strong optical enlargers. Perhaps, it was connected with the fact that ""the place of a registration"" of Mars - the area of the sky poor on stars. And it is possible, it was connected with the favorable periods for observation of Mars, Ares and Nergal. So this planet was called in Greece, Ancient Rome and Babylon.
2. To define the favorable period. As the orbit at Mars strongly extended, elliptic, and distance fluctuates from 400 to 55.75 million kilometers, it is necessary to consider the periods of its movement. Each twenty six months Mars becomes favorable for observation. These are the periods of oppositions. The periods of favorable oppositions arise time in 15-17 years. The greatest oppositions happen once in eighty years. The last greatest opposition of Mars was in 2003.
3. Define time. Mars ascends over the horizon after ten o'clock in the evening local time. It is a bright star of a red-orange shade. After midnight, around two o'clock in the morning, color of Mars changes and becomes more yellow. Precisely to define in the sky location of Mars in strictly certain time, there is a sense to construct the astronomical card. It can be done online: http://www.astronet.ru/db/map/.