Mars to appear brighter, closer than it has in 15 years

Sky gazers better get ready to observe another incredible sky phenomenon soon as our neighboring Red Planet will appear closest to Earth than it has appeared in 15 years and won’t appear again for another couple of years.

Mars will light up July skies as it will look brighter and appear closest to Earth than it has been since 2003. The phenomenon that can be witnessed with naked eye will occur through June and July as Earth passes between Mars and the Sun.

As per The Weather Channel, it will appear at its brightest on July 31. However, Mars can still be seen with naked eye throughout July, outshining most of the stars. NASA estimates the distance between the two planets will be around 35.8 million miles. Mars won’t be this close again till 2035.

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“Mars will easily be visible to the naked eye. In fact, you will be hard pressed to miss it. It will look like a glowing orange beacon of light rising in the southeast after sunset. It’ll be much brighter than any star, brighter than Jupiter, nearly as bright as Venus. And you’ll see it every night for the next several months,” astronomer Dean Regas told Mother Nature Network.

The incident happens when two planets will come closer to each other in their orbits around the sun because of a phenomenon known as ‘perihelic opposition’. In this event, along with coming closer to Earth, Mars will also be at its closet point to the sun.

Moreover, at present, Mars is struck by a massive dust storm, even affecting NASA’s Opportunity rover.