Mars visible in night sky: How and when to see it

Mars is even brighter than Jupiter in the night sky right now. On the night of July 30-31 Mars actually makes its closest approach towards Earth since 2003. It will be about 35.78 million miles away from us.

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Mars was also in opposition a few days ago, said Storm Center 7 Meteorologist Kirstie Zontini. This is when Mars, the Earth and the sun line up. Opposition refers to Mars being “opposite” the sun in our sky. When the sun rises, Mars sets in the west, and when the sun sets, Mars rises in the east.

When Mars is fainter in the sky, it appears more reddish. When it’s closer and brighter, the color appears more orange.

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The two planets are at the second closest point they’ve been in nearly 60,000 years. The next time Mars will get close like this is 2035.