STAR TRAK for January
Tuesday, January 5, 2010 - 17:35
in Astronomy & Space
(PhysOrg.com) -- Once every 26 months or so, Mars comes closest to Earth in its orbit around the sun. That time has come again. Mars will reach opposition on Jan. 29, meaning it will be opposite the sun in our sky -- rising in the east around sunset, climbing highest in the south around midnight and setting around sunrise. In telescopes and binoculars, Mars will appear bigger and brighter than it will again until 2012. The red-orange planet will not be as large as it looked during its record-close approach in August 2003.