Rush Road Test: 07/26/18

Thursday, July 26, 2018

July 26 - Mars Opposition

July 26
Mars Opposition

Moon sweeps past bright Mars at opposition

Mars' best opposition since 2003. It happens during the night tonight according to clocks in the Americas (July 27 at 05:00 UTC or 1 a.m. EDT).

Mars and moon meet at midnight

Best insights and best charts anywhere online - via Guy Ottewell - showing Mars' opposition and meet-up with the moon in Earth's sky.

Tomorrow … Century's longest lunar eclipse

The totality of this full moon eclipse lasts a whopping 1 hour and 43 minutes. It's visible from Europe, Africa, Asia, Australia, New Zealand and some of South America. North America will miss out entirely. Eclipse coverage online starts on Friday around 18:30 UTC (2:30 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time; translate UTC to your time).

The case for a habitable moon

Not now, but billions of years ago, microbes might have thrived in water pools on the moon until its surface became dead and dry.

New products available at the EarthSky Store!

Watch the moon sweep past bright Mars

You don't need the moon to help you find Mars. This planet is now brighter than all sky objects, with the exception of the sun, moon and planet Venus. But the bright moon and bright Mars will be a sight to behold. Plus Mars will be near the moon during Friday's total lunar eclipse.

See it! Mars is very bright now

John Ashley was in Kalispell, Montana, when he captured the images to make this composite. The bright object here is the moon, and the 2nd-brightest is Mars. John said the image "... spans almost 5 hours, and you'll need to enlarge the photo to see all of the planets. At dusk on July 24, Jupiter (top right) and Saturn (just below the moon) emerged from the deepening blue, and Saturn accompanied a 94 percent gibbous moon through the night ... reddish Mars rose above the southeastern horizon, clipping the Blasdel Barn on its westward journey. Moon images 3 minutes apart, planet images 1:30 minutes apart." More photos of Mars here.