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If you recently looked at the southeast sky after midnight, you may have noticed what appears to be a red star rising in the east.
But this is not a star. It's Mars – and it's about to get closer to Earth for a very long time.
On July 27, the Red Planet will reach "the opposition", a position in its orbit where the Earth is between it and the Earth. Sun. This occurs approximately every 26 months. But it is not an ordinary opposition
Mars and the Earth revolve around the sun at different speeds: a Martian year is 687 days; The Earth has 365. And the two planets are in orbit in an ellipse rather than in a perfect circle. As a result, at a given moment in each orbit, Earth and Mars are at their closest point to the sun, known as perihelion.
On July 31, a few days after the opposition, Mars will also be at its closest approach to Earth. making it an opposition perihelic . "
So, how close is it to you?" Well, in 2003, Mars was about 55.8 million kilometers from Earth – which was the closest in nearly 60,000 years. it will be about 57.6 million kilometers.
Malaysian astronomers are trying to get a glimpse of Mars under the cloudy skies of Kuala Lumpur on August 27, 2003. (Bazuki Muhammad / Reuters) [19659009Lerecordof2003resterajusquOnAugust281987atwhichtimeitwillbe556millionkilometers
The farthest that the two planets can get one from the other is about 400 million kilometers, although the average distance is one million kilometers.
Some online articles that went around in 2003 suggested that Mars would be so close that it would appear as big as the full moon in the sky.This is certainly not the case and never will be, because frustrated astronomers are tired of
(By the way, if Mars were to be so close – about 384,000 kilometers – this would cause extreme tides and change the orbit of our planet.)
Massive dust storm
Meanwhile, the brightness of Mars
The storm began on May 30 and, a few weeks later, it enveloped the entire planet. While a 57 million kilometer dust storm may not seem like a big deal, NASA is right to be a little worried.
March fainted under the dust cover! This animation created from my image of June 28 and the reference MGS map of the same longitude really shows what has happened on Mars in recent weeks! Thanks to @Tom_Ruen for the cartographic link. pic.twitter.com/ETVIhjYcB5
In 2004, the space agency launches two rovers, Spirit and Opportunity. While they only had to tour the Red Planet for 90 days (Martian days) – the equivalent of 92 days on Earth – they far exceeded it.
Spirit remained stuck in 2009 and NASA stopped trying to release it two years later. However, Opportunity continued to explore the collection of scientific data. But no sunlight in the dust storm means no power generated by the Opportunity solar panels. NASA has not heard from the rover since June 12th.
The self-portrait of the Curiosity rover taken on June 15 shows the dusty conditions on Mars. (NASA / JPL-Caltech / MSSS)
The last planet-wide dust storm on Mars was in 2007.
The Curiosity rover, NASA's latest rover, is powered by a nuclear system, so it's not affected by the storm.
Where to find Mars
So, if you are looking for Mars, he gets up around 9:30 pm. in the southeast on July 27, and should appear about five times lighter than normal.
The reason for "should" rather than "will" is the dust storm, which has slightly obscured Mars in the night sky. However, the storm may be over by the time the opposition occurs
You should be able to see Mars rise in the southeast on July 27th. (Stellarium)
Something to consider also about this opposition: the moon will be full and Mars will be just below, so the show will be a little faded by the brightness of the moon.
But you do not have to wait until July 27 to see Mars. Right now, he gets up just before 11 pm, and will get up about half an hour earlier each week
Planets, planets everywhere
And Mars is not the only visible planet in the night sky .
the sun goes down, you can spot Venus high in the west. It's the brightest planet and it's sometimes taken for a plane or even a UFO.
For a few weeks you will also find the largest planet in our solar system, Jupiter, in the south. It's the second brightest planet in the sky – until March eclipses it later this month.
Finally, you can find Saturn rising in the southeast after sunset.
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