It’s all about Mars this week. The planet is at its closest approach to Earth for the next two years and will experience a close conjunction with the moon at the same time as drawing opposite to the sun in the sky.
Like a runner on the inside track, Earth laps Mars every two years or so, and this is currently happening. On 12 January, the two planets were at their closest, separated by only 59.7m miles (96.1m kilometres).
Because of Mars’s significantly elliptical orbit, this distance changes by tens of millions of kilometres from one close approach to another. In 2018, for example, the distance was only 35.8m miles. That means that this year’s perigee, the name for a celestial object’s closest approach to the Earth, is rather unspectacular in astronomical terms, but it will still give skywatchers something to enjoy.
On 16 January, Mars reaches “opposition”. In this configuration, the planet is situated directly opposite the sun in the sky, as viewed from Earth. Presenting its whole face to the sun, Mars reflects the most light that it can, meaning the planet will be at its brightest.
Just two days before this, the moon will have skimmed past it. The chart shows the view looking west in the pre-dawn sky from London at 04:00 GMT on 14 January.
