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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Science
Stuart Clark

Starwatch: Mars at its brightest, closest to Earth and in conjunction with moon

Graphic image of the night sky showing Mars
The chart shows the view looking west in the pre-dawn sky from London at 04:00 GMT on 14 January. Illustration: Guardian Design

It’s all about Mars this week. The planet is at its closest approach to Earth for the next two years and will experience a close conjunction with the moon at the same time as drawing opposite to the sun in the sky.

Like a runner on the inside track, Earth laps Mars every two years or so, and this is currently happening. On 12 January, the two planets were at their closest, separated by only 59.7m miles (96.1m kilometres).

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