Time: 10:37(.31) PM
Brief
Mars is still moving in retrograde, about four weeks after its opposition. However, as shown by the celestial path in the image, the 10-day increment markers are becoming closer. The path shows the last 3 months of movement in both directions against the stars. Mars is shown at transit, which the time above reflects. Looks how it is lined up directly with the southern azimuth marker (S).
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| *click on images to enlarge: courtesy of Starry Night Pro Plus, version 6.4.3, by Simulation Curriculum Corp. |
Detailed
All solar system bodies seen from our latitude--transit looking south; sometimes low, sometimes high. When the planets including dwarfs, are at or near where the Sun is at the summer solstice, they appear very high near zenith. However, they are still at a declination less than our latitude. Therefore, they are at a southern azimuth at transit. There are plenty of stars and deep-sky which are of declination 38º or more, including those of the Big Dipper, which I showed late last month.
When that constellation and its stars transit, they do so looking north. Most stars transiting when looking north are circumpolar, for if they are of declination 90º minus our global latitude, equaling 52º, rounded down. I talked about this briefly in yesterday's entry with Venus with its current north declination, and especially at far-northern latitudes. In this case, as Mars has gone in retrograde, it has done so in a part of the sky where its orbit--along with the ecliptic and orbits of the other outer planets--changes more noticeably in declination. When Mars goes direct motion (or pro-grade) later this month again, it will move south about as quickly as it did north; it picks up speed against the stars in that direction. Look at the ecliptic as a reminder, and compare it with the celestial equator. When our Sun goes through this section of the sky in the late summer through the autumnal equinox, our number of light hours decreases quickly as well.
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