Mars is the world orbiting the sun one step outward from Earth’s orbit. Earth takes one year to orbit the sun once. Mars takes about two years.
When Mars reaches opposition on March 3, 2012, it'll be relatively close to Earth and bright in our sky!
The brightness of Mars in our sky depends on where our two planets are in orbit around the sun. Sometimes Earth is close to Mars, and sometimes we are far away.
We are close – and Mars appears very bright in our sky – around the time Earth passes between the sun and Mars. At this time, Mars is said to be at opposition – opposite the sun in our sky. Oppositions of Mars recur in periods of a little more than every two years. Mars’ last opposition took place on January 29, 2010, and the next opposition will fall on March 3, 2012.
Image credit: Solar System Live
On May 21, 2011, when Mars was in near conjunction with Mercury and Venus in the morning sky, Mars was more distant from Earth and fainter. From north of solar system plane, the planets orbit counter-clockwise.
So Mars alternates in appearing bright and faint in our sky. It’s bright in the years we pass between Mars and the sun. It’s faint in the years in between.
Earth passed between the sun and Mars in January 2010. Then Mars was about 5.5 light-minutes from Earth. So Mars was relatively close to us then, and it appeared as a bright reddish “star” in our night sky, rising in the east while the sun was setting in the west. Mars will also come close in March 2012, April 2014, May 2016 and July 2018. And so it will be close and bright every two years for billions of years to come!
it is 9pm in Hawaii. I am looking SSW high in the sky, but not straight up. Am I seeing Mars? If not, what it is? Kind of off white.
thanks
Kyle,
That’s the planet Jupiter in the evening sky during October 2009. You’ll see this planet in the evening during November and December 2009, too.
Bruce
Mars had come close to Earth in 2004 I believe, when it was only 33 million miles away. That was a rare spectacle to see Mars as bright in the sky as it was back then. How does it get so close? why doesn’t it happen more often?
Milind,
Mars came marginally closer to Earth on August 27, 2003, than it had since Stone Age times. Earth and Mars’ closest encounters occur when Mars is at apposition and, in addition, Mars is at or near perihelion – its closest point to the sun. Such alignments recur in periods of about 15 to 17 years. Mars is due to come close to Earth again in late July 2018.
Bruce
Hi Bruce,
Thanks. I am having a hard time spotting the Milky Way. Is it visible from terrestrial regions or do I need to go to higher elevation to cut out the glare of city lights? I live in southern Riverside county, CA.
Thanks,
Milind