Close-up encounter with Mars due soon
The Red Planet is spectacular, these days, as seen from Earth.
Starting in July and continuing this month, the earth is catching up with Mars in an encounter that will culminate in the closest approach between the two planets in recorded history.
The next time Mars may come this close will be in 2287. Because of the way Jupiter's gravity tugs on Mars and perturbs its orbit, astronomers can only be certain that Mars has not come this close to Earth in the past 5,000 years.
But it may be as many as 60,000 years before it happens again.
The encounter will culminate on Aug. 27 when Mars comes to within 34,649,589 miles of Earth and will be, next to the moon, the brightest object in the night sky.
It will attain a magnitude of -2.9 and will appear 25.11 arc seconds wide. At a modest 75-power magnification, Mars will look as large as the full moon to the naked eye. Mars will be easy to spot.
At the beginning of August Mars was rising in the east at 10 p.m. and reaching its azimuth at about 3 a.m.
By the end of August, when the two planets are closest, Mars will rise at nightfall and reach its highest point in the sky at 12:30 a.m.
That's pretty convenient to see something no human being has seen. The red planet will grow progressively brighter throughout August.
No one alive will ever see this again, so it should be shared with children and grandchildren.
