how can i tell Mars apart from stars?

Question

i really want to see Mars on christmas eve, and i cant tell Mars apart from stars. Can anybody help me out? Thanks!

Answer 1

Right now, tonight, it is really easy. It is the bright star really close to the Moon. The rest of the time you will need to know the constellations. The extra star in Gemini is Mars for now. As it moves in its orbit, it will gradually move out of Gemini over the next days and weeks. The planets are distinguished by the fact that they move though the constellations, while the true stars stay in fixed patterns called constellations. The only way to tell for sure it is a planet is to watch the sky all the time and keep track of where these moving stars are. Or use an on line mapping program like the source to tell you where they are. You can confirm that a particular star is really a planet by looking at it with a telescope, if you have one.

Answer 2

Mars made the close approach you're talking about in August of 2003. The original article said that Mars would look as large as the moon--through a modest telescope. That is, Mars through a telescope would look the same size as the moon to the naked eye. An unfortunate print error somewhere along the way made it seem that Mars would appear the same size as the moon in the night sky, which is not the case. But every two years or so, Mars is highly visible in the sky, and every fifteen years or so, Mars makes a very close approach like in 2003. In fact, those very close approaches are mostly indistinguishable from each other by most casual observers, who would notice no real difference from the exceptionally close approach of 2003.

Answer 3

Mars is currently brighter than any star and glows with a dull red color. Tonight it is very close to the moon, and tomorow night(Christmas Eve), it will be at opposition, which means it will reflect the most light from the Sun, and will be brighter than it will be for the next 9 years. Look for a very bright object in Gemini, or in this case close to the moon, and you will see that Mars doesn't "twinkle" like the stars.

Answer 4

Mars is currently brighter than any of the stars. Look for the brightest thing in the sky, other than the Moon, and that will be Mars.

Answer 5

Mars is bright, reddish, and doesn't twinkle.
Tonight its very close to the moon (only tonight, since by tomorrow night the moon will have moved in its orbit).
Mars (and all the other planets) are always close to the imaginary line you can draw in the sky that is the sun's apparent path through the sky (called the ecliptic).

Any time you want to find Mars, Jupiter, or Saturn (the 3 brightest planets in the dark hours of the night), check out astronomy.com and click on the "Your Sky Tonight" section.
Venus is usually easy to find (its always close to sunrise or sunset and very bright in the sky).

Answer 6

Right now Mars is very near the moon. If you look closely you should be able to see that its color is kind of orangeish-red. Also, stars twinkle noticeably while planets do not.

Answer 7

yeah like josh v said mars is red not ORANGE :)

and like remember 9/11 said sars twinkle while planets dont well ships either

Answer 8

supposedly you won't be able to miss it. it should be the bright orangey-red looking star in the sky, which will be so bright because it is going to be reflecting the light of the sun. watch for it in the east.

Answer 9

Stars hurt to stand on.

Answer 10

MARS IS RED