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How to Find Out When Mars Will Be in at the Highest Point in the Sky

As the Earth spins on its axis, the stars and planets appear to move across the sky, rising in the east and setting in the west. When they cross the imaginary line running north to south, they reach their zenith or highest point. Astronomers call this imaginary line the meridian and describe the motion of crossing it as transiting the meridian. Therefore, Mars is at its highest point at its transit time. Astronomers make complex calculations to determine the transit time for each day at each latitude. But you can use the convenience of your computer to find the answer with a few clicks of the mouse.

Things You'll Need

Internet

Instructions

CCDImages
- 1
  Open your Internet browser, and navigate to CCDImages.com.
- 2
  Click on the "Change Location" button to set your viewing location.
- 3
  Enter the city, state and zip code, then press "Find."
- 4
  Select "Yes" or "No" from the drop-down box marked "Do You Use Daylight Savings."
- 5
  Select "Save For Next Visit" to save this location for future use or "Save For This Visit Only" to discard the information when you leave the website.
- 6
  Click on the "Mars" tab.
- 7
  Look for the value labeled "Transit Time." This displays the time of day when Mars is highest in the sky. This applies only to the current date.
- 8
  Enter a date into the "Date" text box near the upper-right corner of the screen, then click "Update" to see the Mars transit time for another day.
Western Washington University Planetarium
- 9
  Navigate to Western Washington University Planetarium at http://www.wwu.edu/depts/skywise/planets.html.
- 10
  Scroll down to "Positions, Rise, Transit &Set Times."
- 11
  Enter a month, day and year into the appropriate text boxes or click "Now."
- 12
  Enter a time in hours and minutes, then select whether Daylight Savings Time is "On" or "Off" for your area. You must use the 24-hour clock to enter a time.
- 13
  Enter the number of time zones you are offset from the Coordinated Universal Time Zone. Click "West" if this time zone is in the Western Hemisphere or "East" if it is in the Eastern Hemisphere.
- 14
  Enter the latitude and longitude of your viewing location. Select "North" if your latitude lies in the Northern Hemisphere or "South" if it lies in the Southern Hemisphere. Likewise, select "East" or "West" to describe the position of the longitude.
- 15
  Click "Calculate." A chart will populate with information about each planet.
- 16
  Locate Mars in the left column.
- 17
  Read the second time listed in the right column. This is the transit time.

Astronomy