Mars and the Earth head for a close encounter in July, the Moon of Blood occurs at the same time

You'll be able to see the longest total eclipse of the 21st century this month, and Mars will be the brightest in 15 years

Watching fireworks bursting into the night sky on July 4th. May happen any year, but July 2018 will be a special month to watch the sky at night, especially towards the end of the month. That's because two red celestial bodies will entertain us with breathtaking demonstrations during this time. One will be in the form of a particularly long lunar eclipse, and the other will give us the closest view we have had of Mars since 2003, according to Space .

First, let's talk about Earth's encounter with Mars. What we mean by this is that Mars is about to venture into the part of its orbit known as the opposition. Mars and Earth travel around the sun at different distances. The Earth, on the other hand, is closer to the sun, so it turns faster than the red planet. Earth can actually make two trips around the sun in about the same time as it takes Mars to take a trip.

In this scenario, NASA explains that the planets are far away and on opposite sides of the sun at times. Other times, our planet is catching up with Mars and we are getting close enough. In the case of opposition, the sun and Mars are on the directly opposite sides of our planet, forming a straight line between the three celestial bodies.

You should not wait long to see the opposition because Mars is heading towards the near end of the Earth at a rate of about 210,000 miles a day. The proximity of the planet will double its brightness as it heads towards us in July

Mars will be at a distance of 35.8 million miles from Earth between July 27th and July 31st. at its brightest in the sky and will be even visible to the naked eye. It's also the brightest and the biggest Mars will appear to us for another 17 years.

In 2003, the opposition saw Earth and Mars closest to each other in nearly 60,000 years. During this opposition, the two planets approached 34.6 million miles from each other

Not to be outdone is the super long total eclipse that pbades at the same time as the opposition, and the Inquisitr did a feature that gives you all the details about the unique event in a life that will make you want to not miss it. The total lunar eclipse will display a phenomenon of "blood moon" in all its glory, and you can read about the why, where and when of what is in this article

Blood Moon 2018: The Longest Eclipse lunar total lunar occurs July 27 https://t.co/k72vkeWpGA pic.twitter.com/BjOv2tRsTH

– SPACE.com (@ SPACEdotcom) June 26, 2018

The moon of blood is also supposed to announce the end of time (boo!), According to some prophets of the end of the world. In some cultures, blood moons were considered "warning signs of divine change" and BigThink even highlights some familiar scriptures in the Bible that relate unique events to Tribulation. These are the verses of Joel 2:31 and Revelation 6:12, which represent a time when people did not fully understand eclipses and moons with shades of red.

"The sun will be changed into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and terrible day of the Lord comes."

"And I saw when he had opened the sixth seal, and behold, there was a great earthquake, and the sun became black as a sack of hair, and the moon became like blood. "

So think of all this as a great lesson in history and do not read too much in her. Instead, focus on some amazing sights in the night skies of July which will culminate towards the end of the month.