Did You Look Up and See Mars Last Night?
It was closer to us than it will be for the next 15 years
Last an extremely rare sight was made visible in a night’s sky.
October 6th of 2020 presented Earth and Mars closer together than they will be again for another 15 years, or until September 2035. Even then at its closest point, Mars was about 38.57 million miles (62.07 million km) from us.
Leave it to ‘Commander’ Chris Hadfield to post one of the most spectacular views of Mars, high about the downtown Toronto skyline.
Mars over Toronto. It won’t be this close to Earth again until 2035. https://t.co/YSfUBob13B (great photo by friend Andrew Yee!) pic.twitter.com/Th9Y6CCLNT
— Chris Hadfield (@Cmdr_Hadfield) October 6, 2020
Many others caught the breathtaking moment as well.
I took this picture of MARS on Oct 5th with my telescope.
On Oct 6th it was even CLOSER to Earth, and won’t be this close again until 2035!#mars #Mars2020 #MarsCloseApproach pic.twitter.com/leGMg7hh43
— 🔭AstroBackyard (@AstroBackyard) October 7, 2020
Success at observing Mars on Oct 6 at its closest approach for the next 15 years! Despite the clouds, the view was quite sharp and with arguably the best bits of Mars in view. Of course, it remains a great target for the next couple of months. pic.twitter.com/StS8wBQ4cZ
— Alan Dyer (@amazingskyguy) October 7, 2020
Took me all night and hundreds of thousands of images, but I finally got a shot I’m happy with. The closest we’ll see Mars for 15 years. Next close approach won’t be quite this nice.
Have a nice trip around the sun, neighbor! #astrophotography #space #opteam pic.twitter.com/0fhziSS8Iq
— Andrew McCarthy (@AJamesMcCarthy) October 7, 2020