March 2018 opposition: When and how to see Mars in Australia

WHAT IT CONTINUES?

The Earth is in "opposition" with Mars, which means that she is sitting directly between the Sun and the planet. It's the first time since 2003 that it's in opposition. At that time, Mars was even closer to Earth – in fact, it was the closest for 60,000 years. Although it is not so close this time, it will still look amazing in the night sky. But be sure to catch it in 2018 as this will only happen again in 2050.

WHAT IS IT TO ARRIVE?

While it seems to have become clearer in recent months, Mars will officially switch between Earth and the Sun on July 27, with maximum brightness on July 31. This means that Mars will be brighter than Jupiter, the largest planet and normally the second brightest planet in the sky after Venus. Mars will continue to be brighter than Jupiter until September 7th.

HOW CAN I SEE IT?

Look up. It's easy to spot because it will be brighter than any other star in the sky. If you have access to a telescope, better yet.

Mars begins to rise early in the evening and will be visible all night, but reaches its highest point between 23:30 and midnight from 27 to 31 July.

Why is everyone talking about MARS?

March is definitely in the spotlight for the moment. Not only is he the brightest in 15 years, but scientists have also made an exciting discovery on the red planet

A huge saltwater lake seems to be buried deep in Mars, increasing the possibility of finding life on the planet.

The discovery, based on observations of a European spacecraft, sparked the enthusiasm of the experts

Is the Soul Existing?

Water is essential to life as we know it, and scientists have long sought to prove it. the

liquid is present on Mars

"If these researchers are right, it is the first time that we have found evidence of a large water plan on Mars", has said Cassie Stuurman, a geophysicist at the University of Texas.

Scott Hubbard, a professor of astronautics at Stanford University who was the first director of NASA's Mars program in 2000, termed it "extremely exciting."

"Our mantra then was" follow the Hubbard wa says, "This discovery, if it exists, is exciting because it is the culmination of this philosophy."

WHAT IS EXACTLY FOUND?

The study, published in the journal Science does not determine how deep the tank is actually. This means that scientists can not specify whether it's an underground pool, an aquifer or just a layer of mud.

To find water, Italian researchers analyzed the radar signals collected over three years by Mars from the European Space Agency. Spaceship express. Their findings suggest that a 20-km reservoir lies under ice about 1.5 km thick in an area near the south pole of the planet.

They spent at least two years reviewing the data to ensure that they had detected water. "I really have no other explanation," says astrophysicist Roberto Orosei of the Italian National Institute of Astrophysics Bologna and senior author of the study

Mars is very cold, but the water could have been protected from freezing by C & rsquo; is the same as when you put salt on a road, says Kirsten Siebach, a planetary geologist at Rice University who does not was not part of the study.

"This water would be extremely cold, just at the point where it is about to freeze, and it would be salty, not ideal conditions for life to be formed," she said. "However," she said, "there are microbes on Earth that have been able to adapt to environments like this – it's the first candidate place where life could persist." on Mars.

He suspects that Mars may contain other hidden water plans, waiting to be discovered.