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Bright Mars

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April 8, 2014

Tommy Eliassen Photography captured this photo of a very bright planet Mars on April 7, 2014, the night before Earth passed between Mars and the sun. Visit Tommy Eliassen Photography on Facebook.

Tommy Eliassen Photography in Hemnesberget, Nordland, Norway captured this beautiful photo of Mars at its brightest. There’s a second, much fainter planet in this photo, too. It’s Saturn. Mars is the bright one to the right. You can see Saturn rising over the house to the left.

Earth goes between the sun and Mars on April 8. We fly between the sun and Mars about every two years, at which time astronomers say that Mars is in opposition to the sun. At the 2014 opposition, Mars is brighter in our sky than it has been in six years, since December 2007.

Thank you, Tommy!

Earth goes between sun and Mars on April 8. Mars at opposition

Mars brightest in six years

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April 8, 2014

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Deborah Byrd

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Deborah Byrd (asteroid 3505 Byrd) helps edit EarthSky.org and is a frequent host of EarthSky videos. Deborah created the EarthSky radio series in 1991 and founded EarthSky.org in 1994. Prior to that, she had worked for the University of Texas McDonald Observatory since 1976, and created and produced their Star Date radio series. She has won a galaxy of awards from the broadcasting and science communities, including having an asteroid named in her honor in 1990, a Public Service Award from the National Science Board in 2003, and the Education Prize from the American Astronomical Society in 2020. A science communicator and educator since 1976, Byrd believes in science as a force for good in the world and a vital tool for the 21st century. "Being an EarthSky editor is like hosting a big global party for cool nature-lovers," she says.