Tonight, look to the sky: you'll see Mars shine like never in 15 years

After the wonderful eclipse with Red Moon a few days ago it is now time for him to shine from Mars. This July 31, the red planet reaches its closest point to our planet in several years, which means that in the sky it will be bigger and brighter.

Just on the day of the eclipse, Friday, July 27, Mars was starting to look brighter and from there it was getting closer. To see the phenomenon, go out and look at the sky.

The US Space Agency NASA explains that if you can also access a telescope, you can see in detail the highlights of the red planet and the poles, as long as the visibility helps. The atmosphere of Mars can also be blurry and difficult to see

The day of the Mars eclipse was in "opposition" to the Sun in perfect alignment with the Earth, as shown in this picture:

For three days he came close to Tuesday, which is the closest point between the two planets:

] Mars will be 35.8 million miles (57.6 million kilometers) from Earth around midnight and will be visible for much of the night.

Mars and Earth orbit around the Sun. But their orbits are not circles but have a slight elliptical shape. If the Earth and Mars had perfectly circular orbits, their minimum distance would always be the same.

Also the orbits of the two celestial bodies are slightly inclined one with respect to the other, which increases or further decreases the distances . Finally, the space agency explains that the gravitational "pushes" of the planets slightly but regularly modify the shape of their trajectories

All these factors make each approach different. [19659002] The approach of 2003 was particularly special because Mars made its closest approach to Earth in nearly 60,000 years. The next time she's so close will be August 28, 2287 .

NASA details that the minimum distance between Earth and Mars is about 33.9 million miles (54.6 million kilometers), an approach that does not happen not very often . The one from 2003 was the closest thing.

When Mars and Earth are close to each other, Mars appears very bright in our sky and is ideal for seeing with the naked eye or with telescopes

enough to a good visualization, where you can see craters and even poles in detail, only once or twice every 15 or 17 years, says NASA.

If you miss the event tonight, the next will be October 6, 2020 but it will be closer than this July 31 since it will be at 38.6 million miles (62.07 million kilometers).

NASA says that about every 26 months Mars and Earth may be slightly closer, and it's the best time to go to Mars. Many missions took advantage of this shorter distance to visit the red planet

In addition to the appearance of tonight, there are even more reasons to look the red planet from Earth. The eclipse of the Moon visible in much of our planet last Friday, Mars was also part of the show, although, of course, with a secondary role next to the impressive Red Moon.

Mars began its approach to Earth, and also was seen as a red or orange dyed star . This coincidence of the eclipse and a nearby Mars is considered very unusual by astronomers.

A few days ago, the European Space Agency (AEA) of discovered a lake of salt and liquid water under a layer of ice also put Mars in the headings around of the world .

While scientists must continue to investigate and take samples of this lake, many are already thinking about the possibility of finding a type