A new image taken by the Hubble space telescope shows Mars in incredible detail as astronomers prepare for a close-up with the red planet. If the skies are clearer, stargazers will be able to see red planet with their own eyes without the assistance of binoculars or telescopes. That will be Mars’ closest approach in 10 1/2 years.
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During opposition, Mars will look larger in the sky than it usually does, providing awesome opportunities for skywatchers hoping to catch a glimpse of the red planet in a relatively rare position and giving Hubble this special chance to take a detailed photo of Mars. For the public, it’s an opportunity to see Mars as bigger and brighter than it normally is.
This Aug. 26, 2003 image made available by NASA shows Mars as it lines up with the Sun and the Earth.
For Mars, the average time between successive oppositions – known as the planet’s synodic period – is 780 days – so the previous time that the planet was in opposition was April 2014. Mars will be easy to spot nearby the bright star Antares in the constellation Scorpius’ head. About 1,100 miles across and almost five miles deep, it was formed about 3.5 billion years ago by an asteroid impact. As sterile as NASA tries to make its rovers before they leave home, scientists still worry that some tenacious Earth microbe will invade and invalidate any samples they test on Mars. The closest approach will actually come on May 30, when Earth and Mars are separated by 46.8 million miles (75.3 million km).
At this point, Mars is visible all night long, from sun-set to sun-rise, and it is at its brightest of the entire year. The agency also added that the changing orbit of Mars will eventually bring the planet closer to Earth in the year 2287.
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Its back catalogue reveals the ever shifting character of our near neighbour – the Red Planet’s wispy clouds, its globe-encircling dust storms, and its evolving ice caps. Their home, the Red Planet, will make its closest approach to Earth in ten years. These darker regions are covered by bedrock from ancient lava flows and other volcanic features. “The paths the planets take around the sun are slightly tilted with respect to each other”.
