Mars will be closest to the Earth in a decade and a half on the night of July 31, 2018. The Earth will have the Red Planet and the Sun on either side, with the three celestial bodies in a straight line. Though the two planets will be at closest distances to each other, they will still be 57.6 million km apart[1]. This the closest distance between Mars and Earth till October 2020, but the Red Planet’s visibility as good as tomorrow night’s only every 15-17 years. Those who were watching the lunar eclipse on July 27 must have noticed Mars in the sky too, as the planet was easily visible a few degrees below our natural satellite.
Mars closest to Earth in 15 years
Though Mars is closest to the Earth in 15 years is a phenomenon for our generation, it is nowhere as big a deal as it was in 2003. Back then, Mars and Earth were ‘just’ 56 million km apart - a feat phenomenon that had not occurred in 60,000 years and will not happen again till the year 2287, as per NASA estimates.
On July 31 2018, Mars will be closest to Earth since 2003 - 'just' 57.6 million km away
So why does this happen?
Like all other planets, Earth and Mars have elliptical orbits, meaning oval in shape. The perihelic opposition happens when Mars is at the nearest point to the Sun in its orbit, which happened on July 27 in 2018 - the night of the lunar eclipse. At that time, the gap between the two planets was greater than it will be tomorrow. But it must be noted that Mars closest to the Earth does not mean it will...