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Mars, our second closest cosmic cousin, has been in our collective imagination for decades. Between fantasies of Martian visitations and the promise of water beneath its icy surface, Mars doesn’t need to do much to be in our good collective books.
But very soon, Mars will not only be close to our hearts, but also closer to our actual planet, just 62.1 million kilometers (38.6 million miles) from Earth.
This is the closest it will get for the next 15 years. And it means stargazing is highly recommended, as Mars will be bright, large, and easy to see with or without a telescope.
We recommend consulting a sky map to determine where Mars will be in the night sky at your location so you can plan for the best view.
But the good news is that you will be in a region of the night sky with very few stars, and if you are lucky you can also see Jupiter and Saturn shining closer to the horizon.
The day we will be closest to Mars is October 6, so move on.
As you can see in this video below, both Mars and Earth are in slightly elliptical orbits, which means they can occasionally get very close to each other.
The closest possible encounter is when the Earth is furthest from the Sun (aphelion) and Mars is the closest to the Sun (perihelion). At this point, the two would be separated by a minimum of 54.6 million kilometers (33.9 million miles).
This configuration is called opposition and it occurs every two years or so. But we’ve never really recorded ourselves reaching that “closer” perfect point.
The closest approximation we have ever recorded occurred in 2003, with only 55.7 million kilometers separating us from Mars. Two years ago, 2018 was pretty close too, with just 57.6 million kilometers (35.8 million miles) between us.
Unfortunately, however, we are moving further and further away from our closest neighbor and won’t start to get closer again until 2029, culminating with a very close approximation in 2035, just 56.9 million kilometers (35.4 million miles) away as well. let it begin. Plan your Mars 2035 viewing schedule well in advance!
At the other end of the scale of an opposition there is a conjunction, when the two planets are further away from each other. They can end up 401 million kilometers (250 miles) apart. This occurs when the Earth and Mars are on opposite sides of the Sun and both are on their aphelion.
It is for this reason that space organizations take advantage of the short distance between our planets when these windows appear. This year was a great opportunity for many missions to the Red Planet.
If you remember, Mars One planned to launch a lander on Mars in 2020 before that, um, it never did.
But three missions took off successfully. NASA’s Perseverance rover is about halfway through its journey to the red planet after taking off in July, while two other missions departed for Mars in the same two-week window.
The next batch of missions to Mars, like Mars Sample Return, will travel in 2022, but they will have to travel an additional 20 million kilometers, as we will be at a distance of 81.5 million kilometers (50.6 million miles) in our closer approach during this time.
So this week is a very special opportunity that we won’t have again until 2035. Make sure to say hello to Mars as it passes!
