On Sunday the sun and Mars will be on directly opposite sides of the Earth, a phenomenon called opposition that happens about every 26 months.
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It will be nearly 300 years before the planets come that close again.
This weekend brings a spectacular cosmic show for stargazers, who will be able to see Mars, with or without a telescope, as it makes its way to its closest distance from Earth in more than a decade. According to NASA, the red planet will only be about 46.8 million miles away from our home planet on that date, which is relatively close, given the size of the solar system.
“From our perspective on our spinning world, Mars rises in the east just as the sun sets in the west”, NASA explained on its website.
Because Mars is directly opposite the sun in relation to the Earth, it rises as the sun sets and sets as the sun rises.
“But even if you have a small telescope, the disc of Mars will be big enough to see details and maybe even the polar cap”. In the coming weeks, the ringed planet Saturn and the giant red star Antares will be more visible, joining with Mars to make a triangular pattern in the eastern sky.
In fact, Mars will be rising in the East and setting in the West the same way the sun does. Farther south, it will be visible longer, and farther north, for a shorter time.
Mars is approximately half the distance from the Earth to the Sun this week, making its closest approach to us on May 30th.The next opposition of Mars will be in July of 2018, and the Earth will be even closer to Mars for that special celestial alignment.
Mars, the immensely cold, distant fourth planet from the sun, will appear at its biggest and brightest to earthlings Sunday (May 22) as NASA reports that the sun and Mars will position on the exact opposite sides of Earth.
If you can catch only one meteor shower in 2016 make it the Perseids, which peak August 11-12. On Memorial Day, May 30, Mars will be just 47.4 million miles away.
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Will you be looking for Mars tonight, HollywoodLifers?
