Welcome to tonight’s Kumamoto International astronomy corner.
If you venture outside sometime after 22:00 and look at the eastern sky, you might exclaim, “Crikey, what tremendous orange globe is that?!” That would be Mars.
As Earth is approaching aphelion, our farthest point from the Sun, Mars is also approaching perihelion, its closest, so this brings the two planets to the nearest proximity they’ll be in for the next six years. (Note: not as close as the below image might indicate, thank God - We’ve enough to worry about as it is.)
To add to the celestial excitement, the moon is now waxing, and though it currently rises earlier and precedes Mars, their positions in the sky will equate over the next few days.
The weather should be fine through the weekend, leaving us much time to enjoy this spectacular event. - William
