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(IAAC) Obj: Antares/Mars Conjunction - Inst: Visioner 80 mm Short Tube Refractor
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Observer: Penny Fischer
Your skills: Intermediate (some years)
Date/time of observation: September 11th, 9 p.m. EDT
Location of site: Central NJ USA (Lat 40.30 N, Elev -74.4)
Site classification: Suburban
Sky darkness: 4.0 <Telescopic LM>
Seeing: 8 <1-10 Seeing Scale (10 best)>
Moon presence: None - moon not in sky
Instrument: Visioner 80 mm Short Tube Refractor
Magnification: 25 X
Filter(s): None
Object(s): Antares/Mars Conjunction
Category: Other.
Class: loose conjunction
Constellation: Sco
Data: mag -1.0 size
Position: RA : DEC :
Description:
Wanted to post on this beautiful but loose conjunction, which is
currently visible about 30 degrees altitude in the southwest after dusk.
Antares is usually a very red star, and one of the reddest stars I can
see naked eye. (Also one of my favorites). Next to the ruddy brighter
disk of Mars, however, Antares telescopically looks very yellow
without much red and the color I can only describe as a washed-out
butterscotch. At this time I would say the planet and the star are
about 7 or 8 degrees apart. Both fit well under very low power into my
field of view, making color observations very easy to ascertain.
The other thing I wanted to note is that although the objects both are
similar in size, it's quite apparent that Mars is disk-shaped while
Antares possesses spikes.
Watch this conjunction as they move closer together in the next week or so.
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