Transit of Mars from Jupiter
A transit of Mars across the Sun as seen from Jupiter takes place when the planet Mars passes directly between the Sun and Jupiter, obscuring a small part of the Sun's disc for an observer on Jupiter.
During a transit, Mars can be seen from Jupiter as a small black disc moving across the face of the Sun. No one has ever seen a transit of Mars from Jupiter, nor is this likely to happen in any foreseeable future. The next one will take place on July 8, 2040.
Explanation
A transit could hypothetically be observed from the surface of one of Jupiter's moons rather than from Jupiter itself. The times and circumstances of the transits would naturally be slightly different. Mars's satellites Phobos and Deimos would theoretically be visible at the same time. However, the angular diameter of Phobos would be about 0.01" and Deimos would be less than 0.005", and their maximum separation from Mars would be roughly 3.0" and 9.0" respectively, making them very hard to see, indeed.
The Mars-Jupiter synodic period is 816.51 days. It can be calculated using the formula period = 1/(1/P - 1/Q), where P is the orbital period of Mars (686.98 days) and Q is the orbital period of Jupiter (4330.595 days). The inclination of Mars's orbit with respect to Jupiter's ecliptic is 1.44°, which is less than its value of 1.85° with respect to Earth's ecliptic.
Empirical observations
Transits sometimes repeat after 13062.8 days (about 35 years and 9 months). This corresponds to 15.998 Mars-Jupiter synodic periods, or 19.01 Mars orbital periods, or 3.01 Jupiter orbital periods. However, in many cases, the transit does not repeat because the second event is a near-miss instead. This period is analogous to the 8-year pairing of transits of Venus. Longer cycles with a closer match are a cycle with an approximately 56,333-day (about 154 years and 3 months) period that is equal to 69 Mars-Jupiter synodic periods and a cycle with an approximately 212,273-day (about 581 years and 2 months) period that is equal to 260 Mars-Jupiter synodic periods.
| Transits of Mars from Jupiter |
|---|
| July 29, 1613 |
| May 18, 1631 |
| January 17, 1732 |
| November 7, 1749 |
| October 24, 1767 |
| August 12, 1785 |
| April 13, 1886 |
| February 3, 1904 |
| January 19, 1922 |
| November 8, 1939 |
| July 8, 2040 |
| April 28, 2058 |
| February 1, 2094 |
| December 26, 2158 |
| October 2, 2194 |
| July 24, 2212 |
| March 23, 2313 |
| January 14, 2331 |
| December 28, 2348 |
| October 19, 2366 |
| June 17, 2467 |
See also
References
- Albert Marth, Note on the Transit of the Earth and Moon across the Sun’s Disk as seen from Mars on November 12, 1879, and on some kindred Phenomena, Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, 39 (1879), 513–514. [1]
- Albert Marth, Note on the Transit of the Planet Mars and its Satellites across the Sun’s disc, which will occur for the Planet Jupiter and its Satellites on April 13, 1886, Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, 46 (1886), 161–164. [2]
