Mars Is At Its Closest to Earth Since 2003 Today! It Won't Be Closer Until 2287

Space.com | ^ | July 31, 2018 11:54am ET | Chelsea Gohd,

[BenLurkin]

Early this morning, Mars made its closest approach to Earth since 2003 — but if you missed it, the Red Planet is still a magnificent sight to see in the night sky. Humanity will have to wait 269 years for Mars to get much closer, NASA says.

At 3:50 a.m. EDT (0750 GMT), Mars reached the closest point to Earth in its orbit. The Red Planet hadn't been that close to Earth since August 2003. (And when this last approach occurred, it was the first time in 60,000 years that Mars had come so close.) This occurrence follows last week's Mars event: On Friday (July 27), the Red Planet reached opposition with the sun and remained at its brightest in the night sky through Monday night and early today (July 31)

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You can see Mars tonight by looking to the southwestern sky. Weather permitting, Mars will be visible low on the southwestern horizon, with the moon shining to the upper left. Saturn will also be visible, as shown in the map below. {at link}

[Lurker]

For later.

L

[Chances Are]

Is that a sexy broad or what?

CA....

[READINABLUESTATE]

Is that the Q-36 Space Modulator?

[TADSLOS]

Yes, I believe it is.

[Windflier]

It’s believed that some of the rock debris fell to earth.

It's pretty amazing, but true. We can tell that some meteorites are from Mars, because of their chemical signature.

The Allen Hills meteorite, which was found in Antarctica in 1996, is probably the most famous example.

[Aquamarine]

So some of these falling stars that we see and make wishes on could also be some of the debris.

[Windflier]

So some of these falling stars that we see and make wishes on could also be some of the debris.

It's entirely possible. They could also be debris from any number of other planetary encounters.

Our universe is such an amazing and wondrous place. I sometimes feel that we humans are like ants, perched upon the top of our anthill, gazing across the vastness of the back yard, and thinking we've got it all figured out :-)