Mars is getting quite close to Earth this month, and tomorrow it will be the closest it has been in more than fifteen years.
This week Mars will be just 62 million kilometers away from the Earth (which when it comes to space, is pretty close). That means it will be more visible than ever before, and should sit rather large in the night sky.
This phenomenon is known as the ‘opposition’ and takes plae when Earth is the furthesy away from the Sun, and Mars is at its closest. The closest that the Red Planet has ever been to the Earth was in 2003, at just 55.7 million kilometers.
According to scientists, we won’t get a view of Mars like this until 2035.
It’s no coincidence that Mars is this close to the Earth and the UAE Hope Probe was sent up earlier this year. The fact that Mars and our planet are so close is why many space organizations have chosen to take advantage of the (slightly) shorter trip.
Currently, the Hope Probe is on track to arrive on the surface of Mars in the first few months of 2021. It is one of a few successful missions, including NASA’s Perseverance rover (which is halfway to the red planet).
In other news, if there is life on Mars, scientists think they know where to find it.
Researchers have detected three more buried lakes, all besides one of the largest underground reservoirs discovered on the planet. Scientists believe that under Mars’ icy surface, life could exist in these primordial waters.
The report was published in science journal Nature, and quoted co-author Elena Pettinelli calling the underground water system incredibly “complex”.
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