Watch Live: Mars Earth Closest for 15-years
Mars and Earth will be the closest together since August 2013, and Perth stargazers will have some of the best views on Earth.
Our red planet neighbour has been visible and prominent in the sky over our fair city for several days now, with tonight being the best and brightest.
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Mars is approximately 57.6 million kilometres from Earth right now. Earth is currently in ‘opposition’ – the precise opposite sides of our planet to the sun.
Look into the east to see Mars in Perth.
This event won’t take place for another 32-years, in 2050.
Hopefully the cloudy weather forecast for Perth will still offer breaks in the sky for a good view.
Usually Venus and Jupiter are the brightest planets in the sky from Earth, however Mars is winning the sky battle tonight.
“For the past few weeks, Mars has been brighter than Jupiter, which is normally the second-brightest planet in the night sky after Venus. Mars is about two times brighter than Jupiter this month, and will remain so until early September,” Slooh, a star gazing company, said in a statement.
Mars: Recent images from NASA
NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) observed this image of Ganges Chasma in the northeast portion of Valles Marineris, and opens into outflow channels that flowed to the north.
Scattered hills on the canyon floor may be remnants of chaos terrain that formed from collapse of the canyon.
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