Mars Is About To Make Its Closest Pass To Earth In More Than A Decade – Here's How To See It

If you ’ve ever require to get a great persuasion of the Red Planet then now is your chance , as Mars is about to come closer to Earth than at any point in the last 15 years , meaning it ’ll appear especially bright in the Nox sky .

On July 31 , the Red Planet will be just57.6 million kilometers(35.8 million miles ) from our planet , four days after it fade resistance – when it ’s opposite the Sun from Earth in the sky . At its greatest space , when the two planets are on opposite side of the Sun , it is about 401 million kilometers ( 250 million mile ) off .

As two planets dance around the Sun , they experience a close encounter every 26 months . This particular clash is love as a perihelic opposition , as Mars will also be at its closest point to the Sun .

This will make Mars specially bright in the sky , as the Sun ’s light reflects off its surface and atmosphere . It will arise as the Sun is setting , with the best views expected around midnight on July 31 . But it will seem bright in the sky for a long time , outshine Jupiter as the quaternary brightest object ( after the Sun , Moon , and Venus ) from July 7 to September 7 . To locate it , use an app such asSky Map .

But this is n’t the close strait of Mars ever . Back in 2003 , the Red Planet approached to a mere 55.7 million kilometer ( 34.6 million international nautical mile ) from our planet . This was the snug coming it had made to Earth in60,000 year , and that record wo n’t be give way untilAugust 28 , 2287 .

These close passes are actually pretty utilitarian , as they enable us to transport ballistic capsule on relatively shorter slip to Mars . NASA currently has a spacecraft on its manner there , calledInSight , which is schedule to arrive in November . And in 2020 , when the window open again for the next close pass , we ’ll see two more missions launch – NASA ’s Mars 2020 roamer , and ESA ’s ExoMars wanderer .

You will almost certainly see a hoax story doing the round again this year , with people claiming that Mars will seem as vainglorious as the Moon in the sky . This is absolutelynot true , so do n’t be befool if people start posting this on social mass medium .

But it will still bet extremely impressive , appear bright and red in the sky . So if you get a chance , head out of doors at night and try and get a glance of the Red Planet as it waves hello .