Unmistakably orange to the naked eye. Its brightness swings enormously depending on how close Earth is, which is why some years it dominates and others it is unremarkable.
Unmistakably orange to the naked eye. Its brightness swings enormously depending on how close Earth is, which is why some years it dominates and others it is unremarkable.
At the moment Mars shines at magnitude 1.3 and lies 1.97 astronomical units from Earth. Its position on the sky is right ascension 5.83 hours, declination +23.6°.
Planets shine with a steady light while stars twinkle. That is not folklore: stars are point sources and the atmosphere smears them, whereas a planet presents a tiny disc that averages out the turbulence. If it is bright and calm, it is a planet.