It seems that this month is all about Mars. Tomorrow, the Red Planet will be putting a show in the sky, and CNET just revealed its readers how to become a part of this and watch the whole thing.
We had already passed Mars’ close approach to Earth a few days ago, mon October 6th, and now, we are looking forward to Tuesday, October 13th, when the planet will be in opposition.
In the night sky, the Red Planet appears as a bright orange-red dot to the naked eye, and it’s just like a spot of glittering dust.
You should be looking to the eastern sky in order to catch the planet rising at night. This will be a great time for watching the planet, and it should be visible for most of the night.
NASA stated this: “Simply go outside and look up and, depending on your local weather and lighting conditions, you should be able to see Mars.”
Opposition on October 13
When Mars and the Sun are lining up with our home planet in the middle, the Red Planet is said to be in opposition.
This will be the perfect time to track Mars’ movement across the sky; the planet will be rising in the east as the Sun goes down, and it will move across the sky and set in the west as the Sun will be coming up.
The online publication mentioned above notes that NASA describes opposition as “effectively a ‘full’ Mars.”
Tuesday, Oct. 13, will be the time to enjoy opposition.
It’s also important to note the fact that you’ll have to wait over two years for it to happen again.
Billion-year-old sand dunes preserved on Mars
In other recent, Mars related news, it’s been revealed that experts discovered a windswept field of solid sand on Mars, and this turned out to be a billion years old.
This frozen plain of palaeo-dunes is very eroded, but they managed to withstand time extremely well.
