The great opposition of Mars in 2018: how to observe and what to expect

The confrontation of Mars in the artist's view. Source: NASA

So, get ready to consider the Red Planet as it should: on July 27, Mars enters into the confrontation and will be practically “near” - this has not happened since 2003.

As we all know, Mars and Earth revolve around the Sun, at different distances and, respectively, at different speeds. But approximately every two years, the planets and the star gather at points lying on one straight line, and this is called opposition.

Such an event will once again happen literally tomorrow, July 27; Mars will be closest to us at 07:50 GMT, July 31. Moreover, it is very bright - brighter than in 2003, when the distance between the planets was the shortest in the last 60,000 years [ Stunning photos of the surface of Mars from the NASA Curiosity rover ]
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Plus, on Friday, the full moon - so those observers who are lucky enough will also see the total lunar eclipse, which will be the longest in the 21st century; Alas, residents of the United States do not have such an opportunity. For more information on the phenomenon, read here: Blood Moon 2018: The longest total lunar eclipse of the 21st century will happen on July 27th .

Closest since 2003

In 2003, Mars was 55.8 million kilometers from Earth - the planets had not turned out so closely for 60,000 years, and this record will last until August 28, 2287 , according to NASA. For comparison, when the Red Planet is “behind the Sun” in relation to us, at the greatest distance , it is approximately 401 million kilometers. At the usual time, the average distance between the planets is about 225 million kilometers.

Having entered the opposition, Mars will continue to glow ominously in our sky for a while. On June 26, only 70.8 million kilometers separated us and, to the delight of amateur astronomers, it became five times brighter than usual; and by that time, when it reaches the closest point - “only” 57.6 million kilometers - the brightness will grow even twice, from the current one. [ 8 cool places to visit for future Martian tourists ]

So what is this “confrontation”?

The Martian orbit lies farther from the Sun than the earth. Of course, as the range increases, the orbital period increases — a year on Mars is almost two on Earth. Because of this difference in circular speeds, our planet passes between Mars and a star every couple of years; thus, they are on the same line in different directions from the Earth. In this regard, the celestial bodies fall into some kind of antiphase: Mars rises immediately after sunset and is clearly visible all night.

However, the orbits are not actually circular, but elliptical, and therefore some “meetings” of the planets occur at a smaller distance than others; the next one is expected only in 2035.

A similar opposition is called the Great, because now Mars is in the perihelion of its orbit, and therefore it will be as close as possible to the Sun - and to the Earth, respectively, too.

How to see mars

For about two months, from July 7 to September 7, the Red Planet will be the “main star” in the sky after the Sun, Moon and Venus, moving Jupiter from fourth place in the ranking of the brightest objects. [ "2018: the year of posh Mars" - a mobile application for tracking ]

In May, we could simultaneously observe Mars and Saturn, easily distinguishable by color — red and golden, respectively; the best view was in the predawn hours in the northern hemisphere. By mid-May, Mars had moved east from Saturn to the constellation of the Unicorn .

In the second half of June, Mars firmly took its place in the night sky, gradually increasing in size and glowing more and more intensively, and finally, on July 27, on the threshold; for the naked eye, nothing will change at least until August 31. As the sun gradually begins to set earlier, Mars is easy to find - it is still high above the horizon.

Beware of "Martian jokes"

The picture accompanying the “Amazing Mars” e-mail in 2003 often appears as a fake. Source: original article

In 2003, during the next Great Opposition, viral news spread that “MARS WILL BE HUGE AS THE MOON !!!!”. Since then, this meme periodically pops up in the information space, usually around September, and will surely creep out again this year.

Do not be fooled: Mars is even physically less than half the Earth , which means that now its magnitude in the sky will be 24.3 angular seconds. The moon, in turn, "size" in 1800
angular seconds - that is, 75 times more.

Editor's note: if you have a cool photo of Mars and you want to share it with Space.com, send comment files to spacephotos@space.com.