Mars will shine particularly bright in the sky tonight as the red planet approaches Earth in 17 years
- Mars will appear about 34 million miles from Earth and from tonight
- It rises in the sky at about seven o’clock and will be on visibility exactly after midnight
- It is closer to Earth than normal due to the different orbits of the two planets
- It will appear slightly red and can be seen on the right side of the moon
Astronomers say Mars will be closer to Earth tonight at any point in its 17-year history and the second brightest object in the night sky after the moon, astronomers say.
The red planet is at its opposite stage, the Earth passes directly and between the Sun and, according to NASA, will ‘effectively appear as a full Mars’.
It will be visible to the naked eye and will appear slightly red in color and by looking through binoculars you can find surface features and polar ice caps.
The planet from the UK will rise above the horizon at around 19:00 BST but will look best after midnight – ideally in a clear sky and with minimal pollution.
To see Mars in the night sky you should look to the right of the moon and to the Pisces constellation – it will be the second brightest object after the moon.
“Just go out and take a look and depending on your local weather and lighting conditions, you should see Mars,” NASA wrote in a blog post.
The red planet is at its opposite stage, the Earth passes directly and between the Sun and will ‘effectively appear as a full Mars’ according to NASA.
It will be visible to the naked eye and will appear slightly reddish in color and by looking through binoculars you can detect surface features and polar ice caps.
Mars reaches its closest point on Earth every two years, but not every close approach is the same, even millions of miles between nearby points.
Both planets are not in perfect spherical orbits – so every 15 or 17 years the distances get a little closer – this year Mars will be 38.6 million miles from Earth.
This is the closest approach since 2003 when Mars was 34 million miles away – the closest in 60,000 years. By 2287 it will not be so close.
Next time Mars and Earth will be as close as this year 2035 – around NASA’s hopes of sending astronauts to the Red Planet.
‘If Earth and Mars had a completely circular orbit, their minimum distance would always be the same. However, they have an elliptical (egg-shaped) path, ‘NASA said.
‘In addition, gravitational tug by the planets causes a slight change in the shape of their orbits. Giant Jupiter especially influences the orbit of Mars.
“The orbits of Mars and Earth are also slightly tilted with respect for each other.”
That is why the distance between the two planets can change by millions of miles.
‘When Mars and Earth are close to each other, Mars looks very bright in our sky. It also makes it easier to see with a telescope or the naked eye, ‘NASA wrote.
‘The Red Planet comes close enough to look exceptional only once or twice every 15 or 17 years’ and the next closest approach is in 2035.
The orbits of Mars and Earth are not exactly spherical and so at some points the two planets are closer to each other than at any other time – this year and again in 2035.
As Mars rises in the sky tonight, Earthsky reports that it will “look like a red star to the east and west every evening.”
‘Mars is the brightest star-like object to easily light up the sky’.
“Generally speaking, Mars is the brightest in 2020 during its October 2020,” Arthasky added. Now it shines brighter than the planet Jupiter, and it doesn’t often happen that the king of Mars pushes the planet forward, ‘Arthasky added.
There are currently three spaceships from Earth to go to Mars – NASA’s Perseverance Rover, China’s Mars Lander and Orbiter and the UAE Hope Mars probe.
All of them are due to arrive on the Red Planet in February 2021 and will provide a wealth of new information to Earth-based scientists.
NASA plans to send humans to Mars in 2030s after first landing on the moon
Mars has become the next huge leap forward for mankind to explore space.
But before humans reach the red planet, astronauts will take small steps back to the moon for a year-long mission.
Details of lunar orbit missions have been published as part of a timeline of events leading to a mission to Mars in the 2030s.
NASA has outlined its four-phase plan (pictured), which it hopes will one day visit humans at the Human to Mars Summit in Washington, DC. This will put many missions on the moon in the coming decades
In May 2017, Greg Williams, deputy associate administrator for policy and planning at NASA, outlined the space agency’s four-phase plan that he hopes will one day see humans visit Mars, as well as its expected deadline.
Phases one and two To allow for the construction of accommodation, several trips to the lunar space will be included, which will provide a staging area for the tour.
The last piece of hardware delivered will be a real deep space transport vehicle that will later be used to carry the crew to Mars.
And a year-by-year simulation of life on Mars will be taken in 2027.
Phases three and four will begin after 2030 and will include continuous crew missions to Mars and the surface of Mars.
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