SUMMARY: On Wednesday, August 27 at 0951 GMT (5:51 am EDT) Mars and Earth will be only 56 million kilometres apart; the closest they've been in almost 60,000 years. Mars looks best in a telescope, where features like its polar ice cap and dust storms are visible, the planet is easy to spot with the naked eye. Just look to the south in the late evening and you can't miss it; it currently outshines any other object in the sky other than the Moon. Astronomy clubs and observatories around the world are hosting events to give the public a chance to see the Red Planet - it will remain bright and close for several months.


Comments or questions about this story? Feel free to share your thoughts.

About this movement of The Red Planet (MARS), is there any possibilities that our planet (EARTH) will collide to MARS.[code]

Nope, no possibility. Earth and Mars do this dance every few years, it just happens that we're a little bit closer this time than usual.

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Fraser Cain
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I gotta ask this:

Since the island of Tahiti will be the terrestrial point closest to Mars, why didn't SOMEBODY go there, or sombody who is there, find the tallest object on the island, climb it or put a ladder on top of it, climb it, and grab the claim to "CLOSEST HUMAN TO MARS"???????????

That is a record that could hold for sometime the way the space programs are going......

I wonder if the station astronauts got to take that prize at some point in their orbits? But you're right, we need to find the closest human to Mars.

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Fraser Cain
Publisher
Universe Today - Free space news delivered by email every weekday.

Not very good news from Mosquito Flats Mars Party. CLOUDS - Big thick ones.The Mars Observation may turn out to be a big hot dog roast or something.

Wendell B)

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Semper Fidelis

Just a coment on the question of collision with Mars......
For those with a bent, and I mean realllllly bent, they should investigate "worlds In Collision", by Immanuel Velikovsky (Hope I spelled it right).

IV's books on early collisions and intersections of planets makes for interesting hypotheses

h34r: ALL I KNOW IS THAT I JUST WANT TO SEE A MARTIAN, PERIOD.

I got some good viewing in earlier in the night before the morning (around 5 AM Central time zone) when Mars was at its closest.
But the following night and since has been cloudy in my area. What a bummer.

But then, we do still have a few months of good viewing yet.