As I mentioned in a previous post, astronomy here in the Northwest is a hit-and-miss proposition....especially this time of year. Well, last night (New Year's Eve) was no different. Fortunately, the skies cleared for about 4 hours, and I was able to get out and get some great video of Mars.

Using a software program, I combined the individual frames from one of the video sequences to create this photo....

The north Polar Cap can be seen at the top, while several darker features are clearly visible.

Mars reached it's closest distance to Earth on December 18th, and was at "opposition" on December 24 (meaning it was directly opposite the Sun from Earth, just like a Full Moon).

As Mars' orbit continues around the Sun, it will increase in distance from Earth. This is because Earth is on the "inside track", and is traveling faster around the Sun than Mars. As our line of sight to Mars changes, the Red Planet will appear smaller (increasing distance) and it will begin "phasing". As the Sun-Earth-Mars angle changes, a shadow will slowly creep across the planet, just like on the Moon after being "full".