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The planet Mars is approaching the Earth today more than ever since 2003 and will be the brightest of the last 15 years. So near and so bright, Mars will no longer be here by 2035.
Mars and Earth move with elliptical orbits around the Sun at different distances from our star and at different speeds. Every two years, the two neighboring planets and the Sun are aligned with the Earth in the middle, a phenomenon called "contrast" in astronomy. The opposition of this year took place on July 27, the same day as the spectacular long-lasting total eclipse of the Moon.
Mars will reach its nearest point on Earth at 10:50 GMT this Tuesday. The planet, shining in the sky with an orange-red hue, will be about 57.6 million kilometers from Earth
But despite this approach, the 2003 record will not be broken when the "Red Planet" has only dragged 55.8 million kilometers from the Earth. It has been the most "close" contact for nearly 60,000 years, a record that will not be destroyed on August 28, 2287. According to NASA estimates
When Mars is in line with Earth, but with the Sun between them, so it is at its greatest distance from the Earth, about 401 million kilometers. The average distance between Earth and Mars is about 225 million kilometers
Because Mars is farther away from the Sun than the Earth, it takes about two Earth years to complete a full circumstance (the duration of its year )
For about two months, between July 7th and September 7th, Mars will shine more strongly than Jupiter in the sky of the Earth and it will be – and not the largest planet in our solar system – the fourth most light after the sun, the Mars, which is about half of the Earth and is much farther than our moon, will appear in the sky about 75 times less than the Moon.
NASA and other space services launch every two years, their space missions, when Aris approaches the Earth to make the journey shorter. Thus, the rovers Opportunity and Spirit were launched in 2003, the Martian satellite MRO in 2005 and Mars Phoenix Lander in 2007.
The next Aris-Earth approach will take place in October 2020 and the next very close opposition between the two planets September 2035. At this point, Aris is in the middle of a huge sandstorm that has covered almost the entire planet and sank in silence the American rover Opportunity, which can not be re-emerged after this adventure, the most duration of the 14-year mission of
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