Mars Will Shine Bright in the Night Sky This Weekend
If you are a fan of stargazing, you might want to look to the skies the next couple of nights because the red planet will be the closest to Earth in more than a decade. According to the NYPost, Mars is making its closest approach to Earth in 15 years.
The two planets will be roughly 35.8 million miles apart next Tuesday. And on Friday, parts of the world will see a total lunar eclipse because Mars will be in opposition. That means Mars and the sun will be on exact opposite sides of Earth.
And it will be bright, I mean really bright, due to the fact that right now the planet is dealing with a massive dust storm and it will reflect sunlight which will make the planet glow even brighter.
Widener University astronomer Harry Augensen said in a statement: “It’s magnificent. It’s as bright as an airplane landing light,” Augensen said. “Not quite as bright as Venus, but still because of the reddish, orange-ish-red color, you really can’t miss it in the sky.”
Other reports this week that radar scans of the planet suggest that a stable reservoir of salty, liquid water measuring some 12 miles across lies nearly a mile beneath the planet’s south pole.
Source: nypost.com
See also: