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Why you will never get a better view of Mars
Stargazers in the UAE are in for another treat this evening, right after the longest lunar eclipse expected by astronomers in the 21st century.
Mars will be the closest to Earth since 2003 and, weather permitting, will be clearly visible to the naked eye.
Dust clouds have hovered in the past few days but if they clear, the Red Planet will be visible in the eastern horizon at sunset today and will then move to the centre of the sky. Midnight will be the best time for viewing.
Mars has been quite bright in the past few weeks in what is known as “opposition”, when Earth, Mars and the Sun form a direct line, with Earth in the middle.
Oppositions can happen at any stage of Mars’s orbit around the Sun. If orbits were circular, that is as close as both would get.
But orbits are oval and tilted, and planets get closer at certain phases of the orbit. This is known as perihelic opposition, which can take Mars very close to Earth and only occurs every 15 to 17 years.
Gravitational tugging can also affect planetary orbits.
True opposition took place on Friday, the day of the lunar eclipse, while the closest approach takes place today when Mars will be 57.6 million kilometres away. Normally Mars is about 225 million km from Earth and at the farthest, they are about 400 million km apart.
During the event this evening only the Moon will appear brighter, said Hasan Al Hariri, chief executive of the Dubai Astronomy Group.
“It will exceed the brightness of Venus and Jupiter which are the brightest in the sky after the Moon,” Mr Al Hariri said.
Thuraya Astronomy Centre, which is affiliated with the Dubai group, is hosting an event and you can take your own telescopes or rent one for a small fee. Otherwise, you can view Mars with your own eyes and learn from the experts at the centre in Dubai’s Mushrif Park.
“It’s beautiful and amazing,” Mr Hariri said. “One of the elements we lost as humans with urban development was the attachment to the sky. In our past, we used to be connected with the stars.
“My mother and father used to tell us the seasons by the stars but where are the stars now? People lost that connection. When people are connected to universe, they learn a lot and become humble,” he said.
“It shows how fragile we are and tells us how we should maintain the Earth. This is important.
“Weather permitting, we welcome people to come down. You can sit down, chat and observe. And we can guide them.”
If you miss the event, there are only 17 more years to wait. The next time Mars will be this close is 2035. But Mars will still be visible in the sky over the next few weeks but will gradually become dimmer.