Celestial Spectacle: Witness Mars Shine Brightest Alongside the Moon!

It’s all about Mars this week. The planet is positioned at its nearest point to Earth for the following two years and will concurrently undergo a close conjunction with the moon while being opposite to the sun in the sky.

Similar to a runner on the inner lane, Earth overtakes Mars approximately every two years, and this is presently occurring. On 12 January, the two celestial bodies were at their closest, merely 59.7 million miles (96.1 million kilometres) apart.

Due to Mars’s considerably elongated orbit, this distance varies by tens of millions of kilometres from one close encounter to another. For instance, in 2018, the proximity was just 35.8 million miles. This implies that this year’s perigee, denoting a celestial object’s’s nearest approach to Earth, is comparatively unremarkable in astronomical context, yet it will still provide something for skywatchers to appreciate.

On 16 January, Mars achieves what is known as “opposition”. In this alignment, the planet lies directly opposite the sun in the sky from Earth’s perspective. By presenting its entire face to the sun, Mars reflects maximum light, indicating that the planet will shine at its brightest.

Just two days prior to this, the moon will have floated past it. The diagram illustrates the view looking west in the pre-dawn sky from London at 04:00 GMT on 14 January.