Closer than since 2003! Even closer now than when we passed between Mars and the sun last Friday. How that can happen, and the prospects for viewing Mars through a telescope now.
Jupiter's moon Europa is a promising place to search for evidence of alien life. New research provides insights on what might be the best - and easiest - way to search.
Mars is 35.78 million miles (57.59 million km) away at its closest on July 31 at 08:00 UTC. That's before sunrise Tuesday at most North American time zones, and at 10 p.m. tonight Hawaiian Time.
Extra-close oppositions of Mars happen every 15 to 17 years, when we pass between Mars and the sun around the time of its perihelion (closest point to the sun in orbit). Illustration via ClassicalAstronomy.com.
