Mars will burn bright in the sky tonight as it reaches opposition
Mars will shine in the sky on Tuesday night as the planet lines up with Earth, looking big and bright as it reaches “opposition”.
Every 26 months, the two planets move close together, until Earth lines up with Mars on the same side of the sun.
Tuesday night sees the moment of opposition, with the planets lining up at just after 11pm.
At that point, Mars should be visible to the south east from the UK, astrophotographer Damian Peach told the BBC.
Peach said, “Even at nine or 10 o’clock in the evening, you’ll easily see it over in the southeast. You can’t miss it, it’s the brightest star-like object in that part of the sky.”
The Red Planet actually made its closest approach to our planet on 6 October, when it was 38,586,816 miles away from Earth