What kind of teliscope can you use to see mars and when can you see it.?

Answer 1

You can see Mars with any sort of telescope, though as with everything else, a larger aperture will give you a better view. Mars is also visible to the naked eye.

The distance to Mars varies more than any other planet, so timing is important for good observations. Earth passes near Mars in its orbit once about every 27 months, and Mars is in good observing position for a month or more before and after. November 2007 through January 2008 is your next chance for a closer look at the red planet. You can go out before dawn now and observe Mars, but its apparent size is only about a third of what it will be in December.

Answer 2

Mars can be seen with the naked eye- like everyone else was saying. It just depends on when it's up. A good site to go to to tell you when various planets or constellations are visible is SkyTonight.com. Astronomy.com is pretty good too, but you need to be a subscriber to access a lot of their online features. Both sites have sky-charts for the month online, and tell you exactly when the prime time is to view the various planets.

Right now though is not the best time for viewing Mars. It's pretty small, and low in the sky.. around dawn.. this month. t's going to be getting gradually bigger as the months progress, until December- and no, it's not always visible only at dawn, so no worries.

If you need to view it now, then you are going to need a pretty big telescope to see like anything. I have a 4" reflector, and right now, it looks pretty pathetic, whereas last year, and in 2003, when Earth was closer to Mars, I could see all kinds of details, even with binoculars.

Any telescope above 6" is pretty expensive. Unless astronomy is your thing, I don't recommend you go out and buy a telescope for like $1000 that you'll hardly ever use. But don't fret. There are amateur astronomer organizations all over the country. They have telescopes- often times even have observatories of their own. The one I belong to in NJ has two huge telescopes. Just search around online for an observatory near you. Astronomers are always happy to share their knowledge, and let you look at the sky.... And their telescopes are bigger than anything you could buy and cart around, so you'll be able to see plenty of details on Mars, even though viewing conditions aren't the best right now. :)

Answer 3

Mars can be seen even with naked eye, and even with a small telescope such as that of Galileo you can see it as a small disk. You can use even a telescope with a 50mm (2in) diameter, at a magnification of 125. But for observing details on the surface, you need at least 150mm (6in), which can be used with a magnification of 300x. The second link below points to a page with indications onchoosing a telescope.

For information on when you can see it, use regularly the web sites of astronomy magazines, "Astronomy", "Sky &Telescope", "Sky News"(.ca). They all have observing highlights of the week, including star maps. There are a number of planetarium-type programs available, many are free and of good quality.

The next favourable time for Mars observations is the second half of December 2007, but good observations can be made for a couple of months before and after. Especially if you do not have astronomy experience, it is a good idea to join a local astronomy club, just do a web search., or go to the last link below.

Answer 4

Mars is visible without any telescope...when it is close to us, it is one of the brightest objects in the sky. It's far away on the other side of its orbit right now, but will gradually be approaching until it is closest on Dec 19 2007. With a good telescope, you can see its polar caps and dark markings, but the telescope needs to be at least 4 inches (100 mm) in aperture and capable of at least 200x magnification. When Mars is close, many observatories and amateur astronomy clubs hold star parties where you can see it through their telescopes. Unfortunately, because of Mars' small size, most people are disappointed by the view of it; Saturn and Jupiter give much better views in small telescopes.

Answer 5

You can use any type of optical device to see Mars, because it's the closest planet to us. (It's the big red one in the night sky.) If you want to see it close-up, I'd suggest a 10 inch reflector or bigger. (It has to do with the more light the mirror/lens can gather.)
Most telescopes, like those sold at Walmart, can image it just fine.

I have used a Cannon sureshot with a telephoto lens to see Mars, and have even used a pair of binoculars.

Answer 6

Check out my page here where i explain the best telescope to get and be sure to read the comments .. people are letting me know how my advice worked out . I added a used scope question too incase you would like one quicker.

http://asktheastronomer.blogspot.com/2007/05/here-comes-best-advice-youll-ever-get.html

Usually a 5 inch or higher is required right now because mars is not on it's closest orbit to Earth.

when it's closest to earth maby a 3 .
We at our observatory tested it out when Mars was closest in 2003.
good luck ! Mars is very interesting to look at !!

Answer 7

You can see Mars without a telescope. If you want to see it better you can make a telescope. It's done all the time.