Mars is a planet to watch over the next month; Heres why – MLive.com

Mars is going to do a few things in the sky over the next month. You might want to find it in the night sky now so you can appreciate the progression of Mars' developments.

Mars is going to do two things. One thing will be very apparent. Mars is going into opposition with Earth on October 13. Opposition will mean that Mars will rise in the sky right at sunset. So just an hour or two after sunset, Mars will be high enough to see bright and clear. As we approach a Mars opposition, it will get big and bright.

Mars image courtesy NASA

Mike Murray, Program Director at Delta College Planetarium in Bay City, says Mars will actually be closest to Earth on October 6, but the opposition will occur October 13. In early October, Mars will be considerably brighter than normal according to Mike Murray.

You dont have to wait until early October to see a bright Mars. Mars is rising in the sky now around 9:30 p.m. It takes until around 11:00 p.m. when it is high enough to see easily. Mars rises in the east. By early October, Mars will be highly visible by 9:00 p.m.

Murray says Mars will be 4 million miles closer on October 6 than it is now.

David DeBruyn, Curator Emeritus of the Roger B. Chaffee Planetarium in Grand Rapids has been fascinated with Mars since he was 15 years old. He says Mars is more earth-like than any other planet. DeBruyn states we know a lot about Mars, but there is still a lot we dont know. He advises Mars will be the second brightest object in the sky, behind the moon, in early October. DeBruyn reminds us Mars has an atmosphere and weather. But its not the kind of weather you would like. Today at the Mars equator it may warm up to 40 degrees F, but during the night cool off to -150 degrees. Yes you see that correctly- one hundred and fifty degrees below zero.

The other condition will take a little work to see. Mars is going to retrograde in the sky the days before the opposition. Retrograde means Mars is going to appear to move backwards in the sky from night to night. If you pay attention to the location of Mars in the sky, you will notice the position changing backwards.

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Mars is a planet to watch over the next month; Heres why - MLive.com