Abstract
MARS is now brightly visible during the whole night, and well placed in the sky for observation. He occupies a position on the equator in Virgo, but the present apparition is not really a favourable one, the distance of Mars from the earth on the date of opposition (March 28) being nearly sixty millions of miles. The apparent diameter of the planet, as given in the Nautical Almanac, will be 14″.6; this is only half the value (29″.5) which the planet presented in the best circumstances in August, 1892, and September, 1877. At those periods, however, the declination of Mars was more than 24° south of the equator, so that telescopic observations were rendered very difficult at stations in high northern latitudes. A comparison of the last few oppositions of this planet gives the following figures:—
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DENNING, W. Opposition of Mars . Nature 67, 525–526 (1903). https://doi.org/10.1038/067525a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/067525a0