Who could have seen Planet Mars during the longest total lunar eclipse in the 21st century that occurred July 28 last?
If you do not have time to watch, just calm down. You can still see Mars at the end of this July.
Yes, the Red Planet is currently at its closest distance to Earth in the last 15 years. As quoted by Tekno Liputan6.com from Space.com, Tuesday (7/31/2018), Mars is at its closest distance to Earth on July 31, 2018.
If you want to see the phenomenon that happened last time in 2003, you can watch it live streaming.
The reason, Observatori Griffith in Los Angeles will show the rare moments.
Back to Mars that is at the closest distance to Earth, you can also watch this event directly.
Just to be known, Mars will be visible on the horizon southwest of the sky. In other words, the moon will be on the top left of Mars.
You need to know, Mars can be seen because the Planet is at a distance of 57.6 million kilometers (Km) from Earth.
As mentioned, Mars and Earth were once in the closest position to each other, ie in August 2003 or 15 years ago with a distance of 55.7 million Km.
The minimum distance between Mars and Earth is 54.6 million Km. Meanwhile, the farthest distance Mars and Earth is 401 million Km. The average distance between them is 225 Km.
The closest distance Mars to Earth is known by the name of Opposition. Well, the opposition itself occurred since July 27 last, even when the total lunar eclipse of Mars and Earth is in the days of the Opposition. This is what makes Mars visible from Earth.
Even though Mars is at the closest distance to Earth, you should know that its appearance from Earth is not as big as the appearance of the Moon.
For the human eye, Mars will only look like a star at night with a slightly reddish radiance.
The Red Planet will reach an orbit called the opposition, where Mars will be directly opposite the Sun, and a straight line with Earth.
Mars will be within its shortest distance to Earth for the past 15 years. As is known, Earth and Mars orbit the Sun at different distances.
Because Earth is closer to the Sun, its orbital period is faster than Mars. Almost every two years, the Sun, Earth, and Mars are in a straight line against each other or called opposition.
This year, the opposition occurred on July 27, 2018 and the time of Mars closest to Earth is at 7:50 GMT or at 14:50 pm on 31 July.
Mars will look very bright in the sky, even the brightest sight since 2003, when Mars is in its closest distance to Earth for the last 60 thousand years.
According to the US space agency NASA, in 2003, the distance Mars with Earth as far as 56 million kilometers.
While on July 31 later, the distance Mars with Earth as far as 57.6 million km. With that distance, Mars will look 10 times brighter than usual.
(Tin / Jek)
Liputan6.com
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