Mars Coming Closest to Earth in Last 15 Years on This Date: Know What is The Mars' Opposition
Earth and Mars are on the opposite side of the sun. During these rotations, the Earth happens to come close to its neighbour.
Humans may not be able to visit Mars anytime soon or even in future but they can definitely observe the red planet more clearly in the next month. Mars is coming closer to the Earth as it reaches opposition with the Sun in late July. The Mars opposition will occur on May 27, 2018. This is the closest Mars has come to the Sun since 2003. Mars will be 57.6 million kilometres away from our planet. While you may not be able to capture the red glowing star too clearly, but you can definitely get a view with the naked eye as Sun's light will fully illuminate the planet. So, Mars will appear three times larger than normal in the night sky. This is called the perihelic opposition and occurs only once every 15 to 17 years, when Earth's and Mars' orbits align to bring the two planets close together, according to NASA.
What is Mars Opposition?
All planets in the solar system orbit around the sun. As our planet is closer to the sun, the rotation is quicker as compared to others. Earth makes two rounds around the Sun, while Mars take the same time to make one rotation around the Sun. So at some point, Earth and Mars are on the opposite side of the sun. During these rotations, the Earth happens to come close to its neighbour. And since Sun and Mars are on the opposite sides of the sky it is termed as Mars Opposition. "An opposition can occur anywhere along Mars' orbit. When it happens while the Red Planet is closest to the Sun (called 'perihelic opposition'), Mars is particularly close to Earth," NASA said. Sex on Mars Could be a Biggest Risk And Create New Human Subspecies on The Red Planet.
Although the opposition is on July 27, the red planet will be prominent in the night sky. Mars will temporarily be the fourth-brightest object in the sky, after the sun, the moon and Venus. On an average, the red planet is 225 million kilometres away from the Earth. During the last perihelic opposition, Earth and Mars were closer than they had been for almost 60,000 years. So if you are an ardent star gazer, keep your eyes on the sky in the next month, to witness the red shining star.
(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jun 20, 2018 09:50 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).