This is the reason why Mars looks so big and bright today
By Rabindra Dhungel, 11 october 2020. Go out at night and look at the sky. Mars, which appears on one side of the Sun along with the Earth, is the largest and brightest today. Every 26 months, the pair of Earth and Mars come closest to each other and then come back (orbiting in their own orbits. Tuesday night will be the moment that astronomers call ‘opposition’. Will be in line.
But you don’t have to wait until midnight to see it. It can be seen in the night sky. You will not be mistaken. That very bright star-like object appears in the sky, ‘astronomer Damien Peach told the BBC.’ This bright star-like planet in the sky can be easily seen. ‘ They are now at a distance of 626.9 million 570 kilometers. This will be the shortest distance by 2035. Prior to this, in 2018, when facing each other, Earth and Mars were only 580 million kilometers apart.
But for astronomers, this time around, the view of Mars is special because the height of its location is ideal for photographing. Experienced photographers like Damien take good photos using a method called ‘lucky imaging’. They take a lot of photos and take the best photos using software. Damien’s image at the beginning of this report shows various aspects of Mars, including its mountains and plains. The difference between the South Pole and the North Pole is also evident.
Piles of carbon dioxide from the South Pole are also visible. This image was taken using a 14-inch Celestron telescope. “It’s a special device,” says Damien. ‘But details of Mars can be seen even in a telescope with less than half the capacity.’ When Earth and Mars come face to face, different countries send spacecraft from Earth to Mars.
Even now, three such vehicles have been sent to Mars. All vehicles are shipped in July. The first is the United Arab Emirates ‘Hope Orbiter, China’s Tiananmen Orbiter and Rover, and the United States’ Perseverance Rover.
Europe and Russia also planned to send vehicles. But they will have to wait until 2022 as they have not been able to send the vehicle on time. Hope Tiananmen and Perseverance plan to arrive on Mars in February. In 2003, Mars came closest to Earth. At that time, the distance between Earth and Mars was only 560 million kilometers.
When confronted, the distance between the two planets is up to 100 million kilometers, which was in 2012. The difference in the distance between the two planets depends on the elliptical orbit in which these two planets revolve.