Mars reaches the meeting point, decorating the sky with a distinctive luster tonight
Weather of Arabia - Sinan Khalaf - The planet Mars arrives today, Tuesday, October 13, 2020, to the position of encounter, where the earth will be located between it and the sun, and for this reason, the red planet shines bright in the dome of the sky and in its best position and brighter than any other night this year.
Engineer Majed Abu Zahra, head of the Astronomical Society in Jeddah said, "This event comes only a week after the arrival of Mars to the closest distance to Earth, 62 million kilometers, which is a relatively close distance between the two planets, and it is the closest until September 2035, but in general, the encounter of Mars occurs once. One every two years and Mars will be close to Earth.
Whether you are looking with the naked eye or a telescope, this is the time to observe Mars, on the night of the encounter, the planet will be suspended in the sky from sunset to sunrise, as you will find it in the east when the sun sets and moves to the west throughout the night, knowing that this movement is the result of the earth's rotation around its axis .
It will be easy to identify Mars because it shines in an orange-red color, and it will be one of the brightest objects in the sky, in this October, Mars became the fourth brightest object in the Earth's sky after the sun, moon and Venus, which is currently observed in the sky of dawn.
Mars is bright enough that you don't need a dark location to see it like you do with meteor showers, just go out and watch it and don't miss your chance to enjoy the red planet.
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