Mars will be the closest to Earth that it’s been in 15 years this July because of the orbits aligning in a phenomenon called perihelic opposition.
The phenomenon will cause Mars to look brighter in the sky and will bring the red planet to only 35.8 million miles away by the end of the month, Business Insider reported. The Earth will pass between Mars and the sun during the period, which is the first time that’s happened since 2003.
According to The Weather Channel, July 31 will be the peak of Mars’ brightness.
In 2003, Mars got as close as 34.9 million miles from Earth, which had not happened for 60,000 years.
"Mars will easily be visible to the naked eye. In fact, you will be hard pressed to miss it," Cincinnati Observatory astronomer Dan Regas said, The Weather Channel reported. "It will look like a glowing orange beacon of light rising in the southeast after sunset. It’ll be much brighter than any star, brighter than Jupiter, nearly as bright as Venus. And you’ll see it every night for the next several months.”
Mars is just over half the diameter of Earth, 4,219 miles in comparison to Earth’s 7,922 miles. Mars will get to be the “morning star” because it will be the brightest thing in the sky as the sun begins to rise, The Weather Channel reported.
The phenomenon will make the surface of the planet more visible through a telescope. The best time to view Mars without a telescope, however, is before dawn.
Mars won’t be this close again until Sept. 15, 2035.
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