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This week , Mars will beam brighter than at any fourth dimension since December 2022 as it get hold of a head astronomers call " opposition . " That means skywatchers will have the best views of the Red Planet — both with the naked eye and throughbinocularsandtelescopes — until 2027 .
As an added bonus , on Monday ( Jan. 13 ) , the full Sun Myung Moon will butt in front of bright Mars in a rare lunar eclipse , offer spectators the keen view of theRed Planet appearing to coiffe and originate from behind the moonshine .
Mars will reach opposition in mid-January, when it will shine brightly all night.
Opposition refers to when Earth sits directly betweenMarsand the Sunday . ( In other word of honor , Mars is on theoppositeside of Earth as the sun . ) With Earth and Mars as tight as they get , Mars will appear brighter and larger than at any other time in its 687 - Earth - day orbit ofthe Lord’s Day . Only at opposite is the case of Mars fully illuminated by the sunlight , making it the perfect time for reflexion .
When to see Mars at opposition
Mars reaches opposition on Jan. 16 , when it will shine a brilliant golden color to the au naturel optic in the constellation Gemini . A few day earlier , on Jan. 12 , it will make its closest approach to Earth since its last opponent in 2022 , at 59.7 million miles ( 96.1 million kilometre ) . This timing crotchet pass because the slightly elliptical orbit of both Earth and Mars cause the latter to be brightest just before opposition .
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To see Mars at its very best , reckon east at sunset between Jan. 12 and Jan. 16 . The Red Planet will rise at sunset , stay seeable all night , and in conclusion set in the west at break of day . It will predominate the eastern night sky and , at magnitude -1.4 , outshine every ace . It will have impermanent contention fromVenusin the westerly sky — which will be far brighter , at magnitude -4.3 — but Venus will set a couple of time of day after sundown . ( In uranology , a lower magnitude imply a brighter object . )
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A bright moon will briefly photobomb Mars during its observation window . Overnight on Jan. 13 - 14 , Mars will be eclipse — or temporarily blocked — by the full Wolf Moon , disappearing and reappearing behind it as seen from North America . The two objects will cuddle up nearly again about a calendar month later ; on Feb. 9 , Mars will form a beautiful conjunctive with a waxing kyphotic moonlight , making it come out to get extremely close to Earth ’s natural satellite .
Although it will look its honest and brightest for years to add up , Mars will be dwarfed by Venus in pure luminance footing by late January . Between Jan. 28 and Feb. 27 , Venus will swing close to Earth and be as smart as it ever gets in the evening sky , reaching its greatest genius on Feb. 14 .
