Voir Mars Maintenant : La Planète rouge Brille Brillant (or...Women are from Venus, Matt is from Mars)

Mars will be closer to Earth this month than any time until the year 2016.

The red planet is now the brightest "star" in the evening sky and is already above the horizon as evening twilight fades away. But give it at least two more hours – until about 8 p.m. – for it to climb above the poor atmospheric seeing that's near the horizon. By then, this brilliant yellow-orange world will be at an altitude of around 30 degrees as seen from mid-northern latitudes.

Mars is retrograding (moving westward) through the stars of Gemini and will cross over into Taurus on Dec. 30. It will come closest to the Earth on the night of Dec. 18 (around 6:46 p.m. EST). The planet is then 54,783,381 miles (88,165,305 kilometers) from Earth. It is at opposition – exactly opposite from the sun, with Earth in the middle – six days later, on Christmas Eve, Dec. 24.

During January, Mars departs Earth's vicinity as rapidly as it arrived. It will increase its distance from 56.7 to 72.3 million miles (91.2 to 116.3 million kilometers) and in the process will fade almost a full magnitude, from -1.5 to -0.6. But at the same time, Mars will be very well placed for convenient viewing.

Photo: Mars Disarmed by Venus and the Three Graces. Jacques-Louis David 1822-24. Brussels
See Mars Now: Red Planet Shines Bright
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