On January 16, there will be a Mars opposition. The Earth will be exactly between it and the Sun. However, even before that, there will be several events related to this planet. However, some of them will be visible from the USA, but not from Europe.
The Mars opposition
Those who have been observing Mars for the past few months know that all this time its brightness has been slowly increasing. Soon, on January 16, should come the point at which the Red Planet’s brilliance will be at its maximum – its opposition.
Opposition is the configuration when a planet is on the opposite side of the Earth from the Sun. That is, our planet is located exactly between them. Mars’s oppositions usually attract a lot of people’s attention, because during them he becomes especially bright.
However, this time interesting events will begin to develop even before the confrontation itself. Since the orbit of Mars is elongated and inclined relative to the Earth, the nearest distance between the two planets will not be January 16, but already on the 12th, and will be 96.080 million kilometers, and by the time of the confrontation slightly increased – up to 96.277 million kilometers.
The point here is that on January 12, Mars will be at perihelion, the closest point of its orbit to the Sun, and since Earth is an inner planet for it, it will be closer to us. The angular size of the planet in the Earth’s sky on that day will reach 14.6 seconds.
Mars is covered by the Moon
After Mars passes perigee this Sunday, its brilliance will continue to increase. On the night of January 13-14, a very bright red light of the planet will cover the Moon. True, this event will be able to see the residents of most of the United States, but not Europe. For residents of Kyiv and other cities on the continent, Mars will remain close to our satellite and will be observed in conjunction.
In general, the event will be very bright, because Mars will be in the constellation Gemini and will line up with its brightest stars, Castor and Pollux. All this will happen virtually simultaneously with the full moon. In January it is traditionally called the Wolf Full Moon.
Opposition
During Mars oppositions, an interesting effect is observed: in social networks, the number of reports that this planet will equal the size of the Moon in the Earth’s sky increases dramatically. You can also often hear about gravitational anomalies caused by it and other apocalyptic predictions.
Of course, nothing like this will be happening. But Mars, which will be in the constellation Gemini at this time, will indeed be extremely bright. It will be -1.4, which means it will be brighter than Sirius. Its angular size will be 14.5 seconds.
In general, Mars oppositions occur once every 27 months. However, the one we will observe on January 16 will be the brightest between now and 2031. This will be the best time to observe the Red Planet in a telescope. Therefore, it is advised to be ready for observations.
The coming weeks are the most favorable for observing the Red Planet. Because it is in the opposite direction from the Sun, it can be seen throughout the night. And in medium and large amateur telescopes you can see the polar cap and the most notable dark details of the terrain.
