Mars to pass closest to Earth in 11 years

Mars will reach its closest point to Earth in 11 years later this month, sending stargazers dusting off the lenses of their telescopes and binoculars in the hope of catching a rare close-up.

The Red Planet's elliptical orbit means it will be a mere 47.2 million miles away on 30 May and will remain close and bright for the first two weeks of June. At this distance, some of the planet’s terrain will be visible with even the most basic equipment.

The planet’s brightness will also be exacerbated by a phenomenon known as “Mars opposition”, which occurs when Mars and the Sun line up on directly opposite sides of the Earth, The Independent reports.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

Robin Scagell, the vice president of the UK’s Society for Popular Astronomy, told Sky News: “I observed [Mars] through quite a small five-inch reflecting telescope at the beginning of the month and could see a surprising amount of detail.”

If the skies are clear, the planet will be visible without the need for a telescope or binoculars for much of the night.

Meanwhile, Nasa, whose Hubble telescope has trained its lens on Mars this month, has released some stunning images showing what appear to be clouds and visible snow-covered polar ice caps on the planet. There are likely to be more photos released as the proximity between Earth and Mars is reduced.

The closest distance between the two planets was recorded in August 2003, when they were 35 million miles apart. When Mars is at its furthest, the distance can be as great as 250 million miles.

The planet will be visible right before midnight, when it will appear in the south-east corner of the sky, preceded by a pale-blue Saturn and the Moon.