How to See Mars During the Daytime

Set your telescope up for a night viewing vigil. Mars can be more readily found and observed during the night, then tracked, rather than trying to attempt a naked-eye spotting during the day. Mars can be completely lost in the sun's glare, disturbed by the atmosphere or invisible during heavy overcast.

Search for the Skymaps website on your computer and look under the heading "The Evening Sky Map." You will find three separate sections that contain PDF downloads. One section will be titled the "Northern Hemisphere Edition," one will be called the "Equatorial Edition" and the last will be identified as the "Southern Hemisphere Edition." Pick your correct continental location, along with the month and year you are planning to observe Mars.

Follow the directions on the map, locating Mars in the ecliptic plane, which will show you which constellation it appears in. Note the rising and setting times of Mars on the map, and pick a time to view it within that time frame. Find the constellation Mars occupies on the map and look for a very bright orange or light-red dot that does not twinkle like the other stars.

Position and center a telescope finder scope on Mars, then view it from the main telescope eyepiece. Make sure you have the clock drive on the telescope switched on. You can now leave the telescope, with the clock drive activated, and view Mars during the daytime on the following day. Look for it first in the finder scope, center it, then switch to the main eyepiece.

Use a computer to search for the Sky and Telescope astronomy site. Click the link for the "Star Wheel" graphic. Make a printout of the Star Wheel, and cut out the graphic sphere with scissors. The Star Wheel will show a current location of the stars and planets, according to your geographic location and date of viewing. Locate Mars on the ecliptic plane, and in the constellation it resides in.

Hold up the Star Wheel over your head, tilting it slightly to show you the correct orientation of the star and planet positions. Find Mars, the small orange or light red sphere in the constellation listed. Train a telescope finder scope on Mars, then switch to the main eyepiece. Activate the telescope clock drive. You can now view Mars during the daytime on the following day.

Use pen and paper to record the current right ascension and declination of Mars from the current chart from the Sky and Telescope website or from the Skymaps website. You will have two sets of numbers. For example, the right ascension might read 6 hours and 33 minutes, and the declination might read 23 degrees and 41 minutes.

Turn your telescope tube in the vertical or latitude plane to correspond to the declination number, as it appears on the clock drive dial on your telescope. Lock it in that position, then turn the tube in the vertical position to correspond to the longitude or right ascension number.

Find Mars in the finder scope, center it and then switch to the main telescope eyepiece. Done correctly, with this technique you can find Mars during the day by inputting the declination and right ascension numbers into the position of your clock drive dial, then aiming the telescope in that direction.

Use your computer to visit the PBS website Your Sky Tonight -- Star Charts, for another current source for finding the position of Mars. Click on the link "Launch Your Sky Tonight" and follow the directions. Enter your location and date in the appropriate link, then click on the indicated icon.