Stargazers in the northern hemisphere are in for a treat as Mars has reached its closest point to Earth, giving the best view of the Red Planet until the 2030s.
Stargazers in the northern hemisphere are in for a treat this week as Mars has reached its closest point to Earth, giving the best view of the red planet until the 2030s. Mars made its closest approach to Earth on the night of November 30 to December 1, but the best views are yet to come as the planet reaches a point called opposition on the night of December 7 to December 8. Opposition is when Mars is directly opposite the sun as seen from Earth, which means this is when Mars will be at its brightest.
The reason that the closest approach and opposition are a few days apart is because of the elliptical nature of the planets’ orbits. Neither Earth nor Mars orbits in a perfect circle around the sun, so there are times when they are a little closer or a little further away.
