I have an 8-inch telescope but can see only Mars as orange instead of red All other planets appear colorless Why

Published: December 28, 2009

The Hubble Space Telescope took this image of Mars.

Photo by NASA/J. Bell-Cornell University/SSI-M. Wolff

Of the five naked-eye planets, only Mars has a noticeable color through a medium-sized telescope. And, although we refer to it as the Red Planet, your perception of it as orange is correct. Mars' color originates from several types of iron oxides (including hematite, ferrihydrite, and goethite) that blanket the planet's surface.

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	Sun	Sun	Moon
RISE	—		—	PHASE	—
SET	—		—	DISK	—

	Mercury	Mercury	Venus	Venus
RISE	—		—
SET	—		—
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	Mars	Mars	Jupiter	Jupiter	Saturn	Saturn
RISE	—		—		—
SET	—		—		—
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