Mars will be ‘nearby,’ easily spotted on Tuesday night
You’ll have a great view of Mars on Tuesday night, weather permitting.
The red planet will be unusually close to the Earth on Oct. 6, astronomers said. Our neighbor will be “only” 38.6 million miles away, which is the closest it will get to the Earth for the next 15 years.
“Stargazing is highly recommended as Mars will be bright, big and easy to see with or without a telescope,” according to Science Alert.
When Mars and Earth are this close to each other, Mars appears very bright in our sky, NASA said. It also makes it easier to see with telescopes or the naked eye.
The Red Planet comes close enough for exceptional viewing only once or twice every 15 or 17 years.
Space.com said that if you look low in the eastern sky, soon after darkness falls, you’ll see a fiery, pumpkin-hued “star” blazing brilliantly.
However, despite the “Red Planet” nickname, this is a perfect time to “appreciate the planet’s true hue, a yellowish orange, the color of a dry desert under a high sun – which is exactly what you’re looking at,” Space.com’s Joe Rao said.
NASA also warned us to not fall for the “Mars hoax,” which is that Mars will look as big as the moon in our night sky. That won’t be the case, NASA said, adding that “if that were true, we’d be in big trouble given the gravitational pulls on Earth, Mars, and our moon!”
Indeed, even at its closest approach to Earth, Mars only ever appears like a point of light without additional magnification, Forbes.com said.
If you miss the show Tuesday, don’t worry: Mars will still look quite bright in the sky throughout the month. Throughout most of October, Mars will shine brighter than any other object in its region of the sky, except for the moon, Space.com said.