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<p></p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"></div><p></p></div></div><ul><li><strong><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/category/mars">Mars</a> will be at its closest point to our planet in 15 years throughout July, making for some prime nighttime viewing.</strong></li><li><strong>That's because of a phenomenon called perihelic opposition, in which Earth's and Mars' orbits align, bringing the two planets closer together.&#xa0;</strong></li><li><strong>Perihelic opposition only occurs once every 15 to 17 years, so get out there and find the red planet in the sky.&#xa0;</strong></li></ul><p><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/category/mars">Mars</a> will look brighter in the night sky over the next six weeks than it has appeared in 15 years.</p><p>That's because the red planet will be at its closest point to Earth since 2003 throughout June and July, as our planet passes between Mars and the sun.</p><p>On July 31, when Mars will be at its brightest, it'll be&#xa0;<span>35.8 million miles away from Earth, <a href="https://weather.com/science/space/news/2018-06-13-mars-brighter-closer-since-2003">according to The Weather Channel</a>.&#xa0;</span></p><p><span>Mars will be easily visible to the naked eye throughout July, outshining all but the brightest stars as it gets to its closest point.</span></p><p><span>The reason for this is a phenomenon called perihelic opposition. In simple terms, opposition is when Earth passes directly between Mars and the sun. Last month, Jupiter was <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/jupiter-in-opposition-on-may-8-2018-5">in opposition</a> to our planet, swinging within 409 million miles of Earth.&#xa0;</span></p><p><span>Mars opposition happens every two years or so - the last one came in May&#xa0;2016. But this year is special because&#xa0;within a few weeks of the opposition, the red planet will also hit its closest point to the sun in its orbit, a point called the perihelion.</span></p><p><span>Perihelic opposition occurs only once every 15 to 17 years, when Earth's and Mars' orbits align to bring the two planets close together, according to <a href="https://mars.nasa.gov/allaboutmars/nightsky/opposition/">NASA</a>.&#xa0;</span></p><p><span>But while Mars may look bright and beautiful from your backyard, the reality on the planet is much less friendly. A <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/mars-dust-storm-pictures-opportunity-rover-2018-6">dust storm</a>&#xa0;is currently walloping Mars, covering around 10 billion acres of the red planet's surface. That's an area equivalent to the size of North America and Russia, and it takes up a quarter of Mars' surface area.&#xa0;</span></p><p><span>"The storm is one of the most intense ever observed on the Red Planet," NASA said in&#xa0;<a href="https://www.nasa.gov/press-release/nasa-to-hold-media-teleconference-on-martian-dust-storm-mars-opportunity-rover">a press release</a>.</span></p><p><span>NASA put its solar-powered <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/category/opportunity-rover">Opportunity</a> rover in sleep mode to ride out the storm, but its unclear whether the aging rover will be able to function again after the storm ends. </span></p><p>The image below shows a series of pictures that NASA simulated from the perspective of the Opportunity rover. They give a sense of what the sun and sky have looked like from Mars' surface - at the brightest time of the day - as the storm has worsened. In the far-right picture, the sun is entirely blotted out to Opportunity.</p><p><span><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"></div><p></p></div></div></span></p><p><span>NASA's newer <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/category/curiosity">Curiosity</a>&#xa0;rover runs on nuclear power and is located in an area of Mars that has been less affected by the dust storm, so it seems to be doing fine. </span></p><p><span>The animation below shows the dust storm spreading (it's that orangeish blob), with the locations of the Opportunity and Curiosity rovers labeled.</span></p><p>&#xa0;</p><div><div style="position:relative;padding-bottom:54%"></div></div>    <div class="margin-top">        <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/controlling-weather-in-future-2018-5">How we'll control the weather in 100 years</a></h3>        <div>                    </div>    </div></hr>

Mars will come closer to Earth in the coming weeks than it has been in 15 years - here's how to see it

<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container float_right"><div class="image"><p class="source"><span>NASA</span></p><p class="caption">An illustration of Mars Opposition and the relative 'tilt' in the orbits of Earth and Mars.</p></div><p></p></div>Mars and the sun will be on directly opposite sides of the Earth on Tuesday, April 8, an event that happens roughly every two years.</p>
<p>The "opposition of Mars" means that skywatchers will be able to see Mars throughout the night as it rises in the eastern sky at sunset, moves nearly overhead at midnight, and sets at sunrise, <a href="http://mars.nasa.gov/news/whatsnew/index.cfm?FuseAction=ShowNews&amp;NewsID=1618" target="_blank">according to NASA</a>.</p>
<p>The Red Planet will be really easy to see with the naked eye, shining 10 times brighter than some of the brightest stars in the sky, NASA said.</p>
<p>The alignment happens because Earth and Mars orbit the sun at different distances. Earth is closer to the sun, so it takes around half the time to complete one trip around the sun. Every 26 months, the gap between Earth and Mars narrows - the sun, Earth, and Mars converge in a nearly straight line.</p>
<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table full"><div><div class="image"><p class="source"><span>NASA</span></p><p class="caption">Mars will be easy to see in the clear night sky throughout out the month of April. On the date of opposition it will shine brighter than Spica, the brightest star in the constellation Virgo. </p></div><p></p></div></div>If both Mars and Earth had circular orbits, then both planets would be at their minimum distance from each other on the date of opposition, NASA explains. But that's not the case. The orbits are elliptical so that Earth is closest to Mars one week later, on April 14, when the distance between the two bodies is 92 million kilometers (that seems far but it's relatively small on an astronomical scale).</p>
<p>Although April 8 and April 14 are both good dates to see Mars in the night sky, NASA says that you should be able to spot the blazing bright-orange planet on any night in April, provided there's a clear sky.</p>

Don't Miss Tonight's 'Opposition Of Mars' An Event That Only Happens Every Two Years

Colonising Mars — Four space missions that will explore Earth’s closest neighbour to see if it can one day support human life

<p></p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"></div><p></p></div></div><p>It's a march of the planets in the most beautiful way imaginable.<span>&#xa0;</span></p><p><span>In a stunning video, the creative minds at the <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=75Ga-WBa-BE">Russian Space Agency Roscosmos</a>&#xa0;imagine how Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune would appear in the sky if they were floating in space at the same distance from Earth as the Moon - 240,000 miles away.</span></p><p>From largest to smallest, here's a unique tour of the planets in our solar system as seen from Earth.</p><p>First up is Jupiter, which is so massive that you could fit all of the other planets plus their moons inside of it and still have room left over.&#xa0;</p><p></p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"></div><p></p></div></div><p>The second largest planet in our solar system is also the most iconic, with a spectacular set of rings.&#xa0;Scientists are still uncertain of how Saturn got its rings.&#xa0;</p><p></p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"></div><p></p></div></div><p>The upper atmosphere of Uranus has traces of methane, water, and ammonia gases, which give it that brilliant blue color. Earth is tilted on its axis at about 23 degrees, but Uranus is tilted on its side by <a href="http://www.universetoday.com/19279/10-interesting-facts-about-uranus/">99 degrees</a>. As a result, a day on the north and south poles of Uranus lasts 42 years, followed by a night of darkness that lasts another 42 years.</p><p></p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"></div><p></p></div></div><p>The other blue planet in the solar system is also the farthest planet from the sun: Neptune.&#xa0;Neptune's surface is a frigid -330 degrees Fahrenheit, making it one of the coldest planets in the solar system.&#xa0;(Uranus is slightly colder at <a href="http://www.universetoday.com/19279/10-interesting-facts-about-uranus/">-371 degrees Fahrenheit</a>.) Underneath the blue clouds of Neptune are <a href="http://www.universetoday.com/21669/temperature-of-neptune/">enormous storms</a> that generate winds over 13,000 miles per hour.</p><p></p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"></div><p></p></div></div><p>Venus is the closest planet to Earth and is sometimes referred to as Earth's sister planet because it is almost exactly the same size. But when it comes to its environment, <a href="http://www.universetoday.com/14070/interesting-facts-about-venus/">Venus is the polar opposite of Earth</a>. The average surface temperature on Venus is over 850 degrees Fahrenheit, and the crushing pressure is equal to what you'd feel over half a mile beneath the ocean's surface.&#xa0;</p><p></p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"></div><p></p></div></div><p>Despite average temperatures that are akin to the coldest places on Earth and practically no atmosphere to speak of, Mars is the most hospitable planet in the solar system besides Earth. And as humans look to colonize other places in space in the future, Mars holds promise.</p><p></p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"></div><p></p></div></div><p>The smallest planet in the solar system is also the closest to the sun: Mercury. Humans have <a href="http://www.universetoday.com/13944/interesting-facts-about-mercury/">known about this tiny planet</a> for centuries. There are even reports of it by the ancient Greeks and Romans who named it after the god Hermes, who pulled the sun across the sky. One of astronomy's most important tools, the Hubble Space Telescope, has never looked at Mercury and never will because the sun's light could damage its instruments.</p><p></p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"></div><p></p></div></div><p>For more images, check out the <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=75Ga-WBa-BE">full video</a> below. <a href="https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCOcpUgXosMCIlOsreUfNFiA">Roscosmos TV</a> also did a video on what other <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/what-other-stars-look-like-if-they-replaced-the-sun-2015-1">stars would look like</a> in place of our sun.&#xa0;</p><div><div></div></div><p>&#xa0;</p><p><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">&#xa0;</span></p>    <div class="margin-top">        <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/white-house-nasa-trip-jupiter-europa-2015-2">Why a NASA mission to Jupiter's famous icy moon is now a priority</a></h3>        <div>            <div>        <div class="ooyala-video-player" data-video-autoplay="false" data-video-id="t5YmI3czqtlGgTLoEHDwxpM12bbWl8Cd" data-player-variable="ooyalapopvideo" id="ooyalaplayer_popvideo" style="width:1280px;height:720px"></div>        </div>        </div>            </div>

Majestic, uncanny images show what planets would look like if they replaced our Moon

<ul><li><keyword id="9840459" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="asteroid-11-es4">Asteroid 11 ES4</keyword>, which is approaching the Earth will be closer to the planet than even the Moon on September 1. </li><li>This will be the asteroid’s closest proximity to the planet till date.</li><li>The next asteroid who will get this close to Earth will only show up 12 years down the line</li></ul>Many asteroids come and go but most keep their distance from Earth as they fly past. Now one daring asteroid is set to come closer to the planet — closer than even the Moon on September 1.<br /><br />Officially recognized as <a href="https://ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/horizons.cgi?find_body=1&amp;body_group=sb&amp;sstr=2011%20ES4">Asteroid 11 ES4</a>, the space rock will be a mere 121,000 kilometers (kms) from Earth as it shoots past the planet next week. The moon, on the other hand, is three times further away at 384,400 kms.<br /><br />In fact, Asteroid 11 ES 4 will be the only near-Earth object to venture in this close for another decade. Only in 2032 will another asteroid — <a href="https://ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/sbdb.cgi?sstr=2008%20DB">2008 DB</a> — come within the same distance of Earth.<br /><br />Not only is this a milestone for the planet, but it’s also the asteroid’s closest encounter to Earth till date. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory (<a href="https://ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/sbdb.cgi?sstr=2011%20ES4;old=0;orb=0;cov=0;log=0;cad=1#cad">JPL</a>) database shows that the asteroid has made eight close approaches since 1987 but none as intimate as next week.<br /><br />Before its fly by next week, Asteroid 11 ES 4’s closest approach to Earth was on 13 March 2011, which is when it was first spotted by astronomers and catalogued.<br /><br /><strong>Asteroid 11 ES 4’s closest approach</strong><br /><table style="border-width: initial; border-style: none; width: 468pt; table-layout: fixed;"></colgroup><tbody><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Date<br /><br /></td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Distance from Earth<br /><br /></td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">10 September 1987<br /><br /></td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">20,368,150 kms<br /><br /></td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">27 February 1994<br /><br /></td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">39,115,642 kms<br /><br /></td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">23 September 2004<br /><br /></td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">65,568,944 kms<br /><br /></td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">13 March 2011<br /><br /></td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">4,268,643 kms<br /><br /></td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">27 November 2011<br /><br /></td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">55,565,337 kms<br /><br /></td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">10 September 2012<br /><br /></td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">26,499,097 kms<br /><br /></td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">4 March 2019<br /><br /></td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">22,653,322 kms<br /><br /></td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">14 December 2019<br /><br /></td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">55,773,685 kms<br /><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br />The asteroid does not pose a threat to Earth. Even if it did, the space rock is only between 22 metres to 49 meters in diameter — approximately the size of a plane. If it were to break through Earth’s atmosphere, it would likely burn up on the way down.<br /><br />As the asteroid makes its fly by, it will be travelling at 29,376 kms per hour.<br /><br /><strong>SEE ALSO:<br /><a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/science/space/news/kepler-supernova-exploded-400-years-ago-but-hasnt-slowed-down-and-two-pieces-of-debris-are-headed-towards-earth/articleshow/77646381.cms">Kepler supernova exploded 400 years ago but hasn’t slowed down — and two pieces of debris are headed towards Earth</a><br /><br /><a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/science/space/news/mars-spotted-first-time-by-uae-hope-probe-on-its-maiden-voyage-in-space/articleshow/77775267.cms">UAE’s Hope probe spots Mars for the very first time on its maiden voyage through space</a><br /><br /></strong><a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/science/space/news/isro-chandrayaan-2-identifies-craters-that-may-have-water-after-mapping-4-million-square-kilometres-of-the-moon-in-its-first-year/slidelist/77667105.cms"><strong>ISRO’s Chandrayaan 2 identifies craters that may have water after mapping 4 million square kilometres of the Moon in its first year</strong></a><br />

No other asteroid is going to get closer to Earth in the next decade than the one set to fly by on September 1

<ul class="summary-list"><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/nasa-successfully-test-fired-most-powerful-rocket-booster-ever-2020-9">NASA</a> plans to send humans back to the moon and, eventually, to <keyword id="47638" type="COMPANY" weightage="60" keywordseo="Mars">Mars</keyword>.</li><li>Communicating with Mars <keyword id="73998" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="astronauts">astronauts</keyword> 42 million miles away would require patience: Even at the <keyword id="111427" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="speed-of-light">speed of light</keyword>, it takes three minutes to send a signal from Earth to Mars.</li><li>A planetary scientist's simple <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/animation-reveals-invisible-center-of-solar-system-not-sun-2020-7">animation</a> shows why we probably won't be able to video chat any Mars astronauts.</li></ul><p><keyword id="6360409" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="Nasa">NASA</keyword> and its commercial partners are working to develop the <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/photos-spacex-nasa-astronaut-mission-to-space-station-2020-8">launch systems</a> and <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/nasa-successfully-test-fired-most-powerful-rocket-booster-ever-2020-9">mission technologies</a> the agency will need to send astronauts back to the moon, build a base there, and eventually springboard humans to Mars.</p><p>One of the most difficult things about a crewed Mars mission, of course, is the 42-million-mile distance — not just traveling that far, but communicating planet-to-planet.</p><p>Light speed is the <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/warp-drive-study-department-defense-real-fake-2018-5">fastest that any object can travel</a> through <keyword id="41531" type="COMPANY" weightage="60" keywordseo="space">space</keyword>. In a perfectly empty vacuum, a photon (a particle of light) can travel 186,282 miles per second (299,792 kilometers per second).</p><p>That's incredibly fast; however, light speed can be frustratingly slow if you're trying to communicate with or reach other planets — even the one next door.</p><p>James O'Donoghue, a planetary scientist at the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), made a simple <keyword id="21778" type="TECHNOLOGY" weightage="60" keywordseo="animation">animation</keyword> to demonstrate the communications delay that future Mars mission controllers would face.</p><p>"Light-speed radio communication between Earth and the moon isn't so bad, but using it to video chat with Martian astronauts is going to be tough, even when Mars is closest to Earth," O'Donoghue <a href="https://twitter.com/physicsJ/status/1279460360915836928">wrote</a> on Twitter when he shared the animation below.</p><p>All in all, it takes three minutes and two seconds to send a signal from Earth to Mars at light speed.</p><h2>How NASA communicates with Mars robots</h2><p>The light-speed radio waves beaming through space in O'Donoghue's animation are exactly how NASA communicates with its Mars robots. But that could change by the time it launches astronauts to the red planet.</p><p>For now, rovers and landers on the Martian surface beam radio signals up to spacecraft that orbit Mars, which then relay the radio waves to Earth. Here, a global system of radio antennas called the Deep Space Network (DSN) pick up the signals.</p><div type="image" title="nasa deep space network antenna" height="1280" width="1706" msid="79132460" hostid="261"></div><p>If mission controllers want to send a command to a robot on Mars, the signal follows the same path: DSN antenna beam it across space to Mars-orbiting satellites, which then send it down to the surface.</p><p>That's how NASA will manage its newest rover, <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/nasa-perseverance-mars-rover-launch-2020-7">Perseverance</a>, which launched in July and is currently en route to Mars.</p><p>NASA has communicated across space via these radio waves — and nothing else — since it began launching humans in the 1950s.</p><p>But the agency plans to upgrade to space-laser communication by the time it launches its first astronauts to Mars.</p><div type="image" title="nasa laser communications mars space lasers" height="554" width="985" msid="79132462" hostid="261"></div><p>Though <keyword id="209455" type="TECHNOLOGY" weightage="60" keywordseo="lasers">lasers</keyword> also travel at the speed of light, they can transmit data at 10 to 100 times the rate of radio waves, using far less hardware. NASA estimates it would take <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/directorates/spacetech/6_Technologies_NASA_is_Advancing_to_Send_Humans_to_Mars">nine weeks</a> to laser-beam a map of Mars back to Earth, but the process would take nine years with current radio communications. </p><p>NASA first tested the technology when it laser-beamed an image of the Mona Lisa to a satellite circling the moon in 2013. It's set to launch a new satellite to try out space-laser communications in Earth's orbit in 2021.</p>

A scientist's simple animation shows why there won't be a way to communicate with astronauts on Mars in real time

<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table full"><div><div class="image on-image"></div><p></p></div></div>Normally, the <a href="http://lunar.gsfc.nasa.gov/">Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter</a> (LRO) has its cameras fixed on the surface of the Moon. But on May 24, 2014, flight engineers directed the spacecraft to turn back for a quick look at Earth and one of our closest planetary neighbors - Mars.</p>
<p>When the spacecraft's <a href="http://lroc.sese.asu.edu/about">LROC camera</a> captured this image, Earth was about 376,687 kilometers (234,062 miles) away from LRO and Mars was 112.5 million kilometers away. In other words, Mars was about 300 times farther from the Moon than the Earth. (Note: Mars has been <a href="http://homepages.inf.ed.ac.uk/rbf/HIPR2/stretch.htm">contrast-stretched</a> in order to improve its visibility.)</p>
<p>This view of Earth includes several cloud patterns that satellites observe frequently. A line of rain and thunderstorms are visible in a band near the equator, an area known as the <a href="http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/IOTD/view.php?id=703">Intertropical Convergence Zone.</a> To the north, off the west coast of North Africa, notice the banks of <a href="http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/IOTD/view.php?id=43795">closed-cell clouds</a> over the Atlantic Ocean. Moving into the high latitudes, we see <a href="http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/IOTD/view.php?id=80581">comma-shaped cloud patterns</a> caused by extra-tropical cyclones.</p>
<p>LROC actually consists of two narrow-angle cameras. Images taken by these cameras are built from rows of <a href="http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Glossary/?xref=pixel">pixels</a> acquired one after another, and then the left and right images are mosaicked together to make a complete pair. If the spacecraft was not moving, the rows of pixels would image the same area over and over; so it is the spacecraft motion, combined with fine-tuning of the camera exposure time, that enabled the final image.</p>
<p>Capturing this image required some advance planning. LRO's team took <a href="http://lroc.sese.asu.edu/posts/815">practice images</a> of Mars on May 8, 2014, to refine their timing and camera settings. <div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table full"><div><div class="image on-image"></div><p></p></div></div><strong><em>References</em></strong></p>
<p><em>Arizona State University (2014, October 2) <a href="http://lroc.sese.asu.edu/posts/814">Two-Planet Perspective from Lunar Orbit.</a> Accessed October 10, 2014.</em></p>
<p><em style="line-height: 1.5em;">NASA Goddard Space Flight Center (2014, October 2) <a href="http://lunar.gsfc.nasa.gov/">Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter.</a> Accessed October 10, 2014.</em></p>
<p class="credit"><em><a href="http://lroc.sese.asu.edu/posts/814">Image</a> courtesy NASA/Goddard/Arizona State University. Caption by Adam Voiland.</em></p>
<dl><dt><em>Instrument(s): </em><em>LRO - NAC</em></dt></dl><div class="feed-footer-wrapper"><div class="feed-footer">

  <h3>More from NASA Earth Observatory:</h3>

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     <a href="http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/IOTD/view.php?id=84536&amp;src=eorss-iotd">Egmont National Park, New Zealand</a>
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     <a href="http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/NaturalHazards/view.php?id=84542&amp;src=eorss-nh">The Legacy of Nimbus</a>
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     <a href="http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/NaturalHazards/view.php?id=84533&amp;src=eorss-nh">Cyclone Hudhud</a>
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     <a href="http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/NaturalHazards/view.php?id=84530&amp;src=eorss-nh">Haze over Eastern China</a>
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     <a href="http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/NaturalHazards/view.php?id=84510&amp;src=eorss-nh">Typhoon Phanfone Nears Japan</a>
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     </ul>
 </div></div>

This Fantastic Picture Shows What The Earth And Mars Look Like From The Moon

<p></p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"></div><p></p></div></div><ul class="summary-list"><li>The <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/category/speed-of-light" target="_blank" rel="noopener">speed of light</a> in a vacuum is about 186,282 miles per second (299,792 kilometers per second).</li><li>A scientist at <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/category/nasa" target="_blank" rel="noopener">NASA</a> animated how long it takes light to travel around Earth, as well as between the planet, its moon, and Mars.</li><li>The physics animations show just how fast (and slow) the speed limit of the universe can be.</li></ul><p>A series of new animations by a NASA scientist show just how zippy - and also torturously slow - the speed of light can be.</p><p>Light-speed is the <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/warp-drive-study-department-defense-real-fake-2018-5">fastest that any material object can travel</a> through space. That is, of course, barring the existence of theoretical shortcuts in the fabric of space called wormholes (and the ability to go through them without being destroyed).</p><p>In a perfectly empty vacuum, a particle of light called a photon can travel 186,282 miles per second (299,792 kilometers per second), or about 670.6 million miles per hour (1.079 billion kilometers per hour).</p><p>This is incredibly fast. However, light-speed can frustratingly slow if you're trying to communicate with or reach other planets, especially any <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/category/exoplanets" target="_blank" rel="noopener">worlds beyond</a> our solar system.</p><p><em><strong>Read more</strong>: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/cold-super-earth-planet-barnards-star-2018-11">Astronomers found a 'cold super-Earth' less than 6 light-years away - and it may be the first rocky planet we'll photograph beyond the solar system</a></em></p><p>To depict the speed limit of the cosmos in a way anyone could understand, <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/james-o-donoghue-astronomer/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">James O'Donoghue</a>, a planetary scientist at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, took it upon himself to animate it.</p><p>"My animations were made to show as instantly as possible the whole context of what I'm trying to convey," O'Donoghue told Business Insider via <a href="https://twitter.com/physicsJ" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Twitter</a>. "When I revised for my exams, I used to draw complex concepts out by hand just to truly understand, so that's what I'm doing here."</p><p>O'Donoghue said he only recently learned how to create these animations - his first were for a NASA <a href="https://t.co/j87b5kgMDA" target="_blank" rel="noopener">news release</a> about <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/saturns-rings-are-vanishing-very-quickly-2018-12">Saturn's vanishing rings</a>. After that, he moved on to animating other difficult-to-grasp space concepts, including a <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MS8KA7Mayho" target="_blank" rel="noopener">video</a> illustrating the rotation speeds and sizes of the planets. He said that one "garnered millions of views" when he <a href="https://twitter.com/physicsJ/status/1079061451845890048" target="_blank" rel="noopener">posted it to Twitter</a>.</p><p>O'Donoghue's latest effort looks at three different light-speed scenarios to convey how fast (and painfully slow) photons can be.</p><h2>How fast light travels relative to Earth</h2><p>One of O'Donoghue's first animations shows how fast light moves in relation to Earth.</p><p>Earth is 24,901 miles around at its center. If our world had no atmosphere (air refracts and slows down light a little bit), a photon skimming along its surface could lap the equator nearly 7.5 times every second.</p><p>In this <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WJqg3B2_Kwc" target="_blank" rel="noopener">depiction</a>, the speed of light seems pretty fast - though the movie also shows how finite it is.</p><h2>How fast light travels between Earth and the moon</h2><p>A <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_61SxDrdyhI" target="_blank" rel="noopener">second animation</a> by O'Donoghue takes a big step back from Earth to include the moon.</p><p>On average, there is about 238,855 miles (384,400 kilometers) of distance between our planet and its large natural satellite.</p><p>This means all moonlight we see is 1.255 seconds old, and that an Earth-moon round-trip at light-speed takes about 2.51 seconds.</p><p>This timing is growing every day, however, as the moon is <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/why-total-solar-eclipses-will-end-2017-6">drifting farther from Earth</a> at a rate of about 1.5 inches (3.8 centimeters) per year. (The moon is constantly <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/how-ocean-tides-work-lunar-gravity-2017-6">sapping Earth's rotational energy via ocean tides</a>, boosting its orbit to a greater and greater distance.)</p><h2>How fast light travels between Earth and Mars</h2><p>O'Donoghue's third speed-of-light animation illustrates the challenge that many planetary scientists deal with on a daily basis.</p><p>When NASA tries to talk to or download data from a spacecraft, such as the <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/nasa-insight-mars-probe-landing-successful-science-mission-2018-11">InSight probe on Mars</a>, it can only do so at the speed of light. This is much too slow to operate a spacecraft in "live mode" as you would a remote-control car. So commands must be carefully thought out, pre-packaged, and aimed at the precise location in space at the precise time so that they don't miss their target.</p><p><em><strong>Read more</strong>: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/nasa-records-dust-devil-winds-martian-surface-insight-2018-12">NASA can hear the 'haunting' sound of dust devils tearing across Mars with its new $830 million lander</a></em></p><p>The fastest a conversation could ever happen between Earth and Mars is when the planets are at their nearest point to one another, a event called closest approach that happens once roughly every two years. On average, that best-case-scenario distance is about 33.9 million miles (54.6 million kilometers).</p><p>As that 60-second clip of O'Donoghue's <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CSqFBbNtt9c" target="_blank" rel="noopener">full movie on YouTube</a> shows, light takes 3 minutes 2 seconds to travel between Earth and Mars at closest approach. That's 6 minutes and 4 seconds for a light-speed round-trip.</p><h2>The speed of light gets more depressing the farther you go</h2><p></p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"></div><p></p></div></div><p>The hurdle of light's finite speed gets even more challenging for spacecraft like New Horizons, which is now more than <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/new-horizons-ultima-thule-mu69-spinning-video-2019-1">4 billion miles from Earth</a>, and the Voyager 1 and 2 spacecraft, each of which have <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/nasa-voyager-2-enters-interstellar-space-2018-12">reached the space between stars</a>.</p><p>The situation gets downright depressing when you start looking outside the solar system. The <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/proxima-b-potentially-earth-like-planet-around-closest-star-2016-8">closest-known exoplanet</a>, called Proxima b, is about 4.2 light-years away from us (a distance of about 2.47 trillion miles or 3.97 trillion kilometers).</p><p>However, the fastest any spacecraft has ever gone is <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/nasa-parker-solar-probe-fastest-human-object-2018-11">NASA's Parker Solar Probe at about 213,200 mph</a>; at that speed, it'd take 1,322 years to reach Proxima b.</p><p>A Russian-American billionaire's Breakthrough Starshot project envisions a way to address this speed problem. The multi-decade plan is to build and <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/breakthrough-starshot-laser-beam-power-2018-12">fly tiny "nanocraft" past such exoplanets via ultra-powerful laser blasts</a>, ideally at a planned cruise velocity of 20% of the speed of light. Yet the entire concept is still theoretical, may not end up working, and is still a fraction of light-speed.</p><p>Space is impossibly vast. Its observable edge begins <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/size-of-the-universe-2016-8">about 45.34 billion light-years away in any direction</a> (and 13.77 billion years in the past), which is far too big to illustrate in a simple animation. One illustration comes close, though: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/entire-universe-picture-logarithmic-map-2017-6">this image created by </a><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/entire-universe-picture-logarithmic-map-2017-6">musician Pablo Carlos Budassi</a>, which combines logarithmic maps of the universe from Princeton and images from NASA to capture it all in one picture.</p><div><div style="position:relative; padding-bottom:calc(75.00% + 44px)"></div></div><div><div style="position:relative; padding-bottom:calc(56.25% + 44px)"></div></div><div><div style="position:relative; padding-bottom:calc(56.17% + 44px)"></div></div>    <div class="margin-top">        <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/albert-einstein-loophole-nothing-travels-faster-than-light-2016-10">Albert Einstein has a famous loophole in the special theory of relativity that could predict faster-than-light travel </a></h3>        <div>                    </div>    </div>

The speed of light is torturously slow, and these 3 simple animations by a scientist at NASA prove it

<ul class="summary-list"><li><keyword id="1334" type="COUNTRY" weightage="60" keywordseo="China">China</keyword>'s <keyword id="9109397" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="Tianwen-1">Tianwen-1</keyword> spacecraft has beamed back its first photo: a black-and-white snapshot of <keyword id="47638" type="COMPANY" weightage="60" keywordseo="Mars">Mars</keyword>.</li><li>The probe is one of <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/three-mars-missions-arrive-february-from-nasa-china-uae-2021-1">three Mars missions arriving at the planet this month</a>.</li><li>Tianwen-1 aims to deploy a radar-equipped <keyword id="155626" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="60" keywordseo="Rover">rover</keyword> and seek underground water sources that may harbor alien microbes.</li></ul><p>China's first interplanetary probe is now so close to Mars that its camera can make out craters across the red planet's surface.</p><p>The Tianwen-1 spacecraft, a suite of robots launched by the China National Space Administration (CNSA) in July, has spent the last six months speeding through space. At just 2.2 million kilometers (1.4 million miles) from its destination, the probe beamed back its very first photo: a black-and-white snapshot of Mars.</p><p>The CNSA released the picture on Friday. In a <a href="http://www.cnsa.gov.cn/english/n6465652/n6465653/c6811227/content.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">press release</a>, the agency said that the probe had fired an engine as part of its fourth "orbital correction," or adjustment of its path through space. Now Martian gravity should pull the mission into just the right orbit around the planet.</p><p>The five-ton probe is set to carry out a braking operation to slow its high-speed spaceflight and slip into orbit around Mars on February 10. Following that, the spacecraft will spend a couple months surveying a landing site at Utopia Planitia, a vast field of ancient volcanic rock.</p><p>The orbiter is supposed to drop a lander-rover combo to the planet's surface in May, the <a href="http://www.cnsa.gov.cn/english/n6465652/n6465653/c6810856/content.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">CNSA said</a>. If the rocket-powered descent goes smoothly, the lander will deploy a two-track ramp  for the rover to roll onto Martian soil. The rover's radar system will help Chinese researchers seek out underground pockets of liquid water. (The orbiter, meanwhile, will continue circling the red planet and relaying data to Earth.)</p><p>Such ancient water reservoirs could be remnants of a time billions of years ago when Mars flowed with rivers, courtesy of a much thicker and protective atmosphere than exists today. During this era, Mars somewhat resembled Earth, and scientists think it may have hosted alien microbial life. Any underground pockets of water, shielded from the sun's unfiltered radiation and the vacuum of space, might still harbor such species, if they exist.</p><p>If successful, Tianwen-1 will be the first <keyword id="164562" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="60" keywordseo="Mars-mission">Mars mission</keyword> to send a spacecraft into orbit, drop a landing platform, and deploy a rover all in one expedition. It will also mark China's first landing on another planet and help the nation prepare a future mission that might return a Martian rock or dirt sample to Earth in the late 2020s.</p><div type="image" title="china mars global remote sensing and small rover hx 1 martian mission illustration rendering cas xinhua" height="995" width="1327" msid="80712843" hostid="261"></div><p>As of Friday, the CNSA said Tianwen-1 is just about 1.1 million kilometers (680,000 miles) from its destination.</p><p>Two other missions which launched around the same time as Tianwen-1 - <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/nasa-first-interplanetary-helicopter-in-perseverance-mars-rover-belly-2020-7">NASA's Perseverance rover</a> and the <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/3-misions-launching-to-mars-in-july-from-3-countries-2020-7">United Arab Emirates' Hope probe</a> - are also arriving at Mars in the next two weeks. All three missions are taking advantage of a window when Mars passes close to Earth, decreasing travel time and cost.</p><p>China attempted to send an orbiter to Mars in 2011, but the Russian spacecraft that was meant to carry it there <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/russia-phobos-grunt-2011-11">stalled in Earth's orbit</a> and never left.</p><p>Tianwen-1 is the closest China has ever gotten to another planet. With luck - and the right engineering to weather a harrowing "<a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/nasa-mars-perseverance-rover-seven-minutes-terror-landing-video-2020-7">seven minutes of terror</a>" as it plunges toward Mars - it will reach the surface.</p>

China's new Mars probe took its first photo of the red planet as the mission prepares to make history

<ul class="summary-list"><li>A <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/green-comet-ztf-viewing-where-when-how-see-2023-1">green comet</a> and <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/nasa-spots-rock-formation-on-mars-that-looks-like-giant-bear-face-2023-1">Mars</a> will appear side-by-side in the night sky on February 10 and 11.</li><li>It's a good opportunity to <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/green-comet-ztf-what-look-like-see-photos-2023-1">spot the comet</a> in the early evening, maybe with nothing but binoculars.</li></ul><p>A <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/tried-see-green-comet-fail-2023-2">green comet shooting past Earth</a> for the first time since the Ice Age is about to skim right past Mars in the night sky.</p><p>The green comet and the red planet will be visible side-by-side across the Northern Hemisphere on the nights of February 10 and 11. For US stargazers, the moon will stay below the horizon during the early evening hours, making ideal dark skies.</p><p>All that could make it much easier to spot the cosmic visitor, a ball of frozen gas and dust called Comet C/2022 E3 (ZTF), or Comet ZTF for short. Mars stands out among the stars because it glows bright and orange — easily visible to the naked eye. Once you spot Mars, finding the green cosmic snowball should be a breeze if it's bright enough.</p><p>"Now that the moon is leaving the evening sky, we've got about a week or so left to see this beauty at its best," Dan Bartlett, a night-sky photographer and comet enthusiast, told Insider in an email.</p><p>Here's what you need to know to treat yourself to a rare, colorful cosmic sight this weekend.</p><h2>How to see Mars and Comet ZTF</h2><div type="image" title="mars red planet with brown patches and white polar ice caps" height="600" width="800" msid="97592297" hostid="261"></div><p>Mars rises high in the evening sky this weekend, and it should be easy to see it beside the comet well before bedtime.</p><p>In the first few hours after nightfall, get as far from city lights as you can (safely and comfortably). Bring binoculars at a minimum — the comet probably won't be visible to the unaided eye.</p><p>Comet brightness is difficult to predict. Although it's been clear enough for binoculars so far, it's possible that a telescope will be necessary to see Comet ZTF by the time it lines up with Mars.</p><p>To locate the cosmic couple, face west just after sunset and look for an orange-red point of light just to the right of the Orion constellation. That's Mars, according to <a href="https://earthsky.org/astronomy-essentials/new-comet-might-get-bright-enough-for-binoculars/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">EarthSky.com</a>. A stargazing app like Sky Safari can help you spot the planet. Then point your binoculars at it and look for the comet. It should be just above Mars.</p><p>"Don't look for a speck," Bartlett said. "Look for a fuzzy, smudge, irregularly fan-shaped."</p><p>Don't wait until the late evening, when the moon rises and lightens the sky. Check <a href="https://www.timeanddate.com/moon/">TimeandDate.com</a> to see when the moon will rise in your area.</p><p>The comet is fading from view, after it passed its closest point to Earth on February 2. But there's still time to see it. It will be in the vicinity of Mars through February 14, according to <a href="https://www.space.com/green-comet-c2022-e3-ztf-near-mars-february-2023" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Space.com</a>, and after that it will approach Orion as it fades from view.</p><p>If you want to see the Mars-comet pairing from the comfort of your home, The Virtual Telescope Project plans to <a href="https://www.virtualtelescope.eu/2023/02/03/comet-c-2022-e3-ztf-meets-mars-the-red-planet-online-observation-11-feb-2023/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">broadcast telescope observations of the event online</a> on Saturday.</p>

The green comet and Mars appear side-by-side this weekend. Spot them together in the night sky.

<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span>REUTERS/Darren Whiteside</span></p><p class="caption">A full moon is seen before the start of a lunar eclipse in Jakarta, Indonesia January 31, 2018.</p></div><p></p></div></div></p><ul><li><strong>A <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/photos-super-blue-blood-moon-lunar-eclipse-2018-1">blood moon</a> - and the longest <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/category/lunar-eclipse">lunar eclipse</a> of the 21st century - will occur on the night of June 27 and the morning of June 28.</strong></li><li><strong>The total eclipse is set to last for 1 hour and 43 minutes.</strong></li><li><strong>The eclipse will only be visible in the Eastern Hemisphere.</strong></li></ul><p>July is shaping up to be an <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/mars-to-be-the-brightest-it-has-been-in-15-years-2018-6">excellent month</a> for astronomy fans.</p><p>On the night of July 27 and the early morning hours of July 28, skywatchers in the Eastern Hemisphere will be treated to the longest <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/photos-super-blue-blood-moon-lunar-eclipse-2018-1">lunar eclipse</a> set to occur in the 21st century, <a href="http://earthsky.org/?p=282841">EarthSky</a> reports.</p><p>Astronomers expect the total eclipse to last for a full 1 hour and 43 minutes, with the partial eclipse - which occurs before and after the total eclipse phase - lasting for 3 hours and 55 minutes.</p><p>A lunar eclipse occurs when the Sun, Earth, and Moon are directly aligned, and the moon's orbit brings it directly into Earth's shadow. This particular eclipse will last so long because the moon will pass directly into the darkest region of Earth's shadow, known as the umbra, which will also give the moon a reddish "blood moon" sheen.</p><p>July's full moon will happen at the same time as the moon's apogee - which is when the moon hits its furthest point from Earth in its monthly orbit, according to EarthSky. It'll be the smallest and furthest full moon of the year, which means the moon will take more time to pass through Earth's dark shadow, making the eclipse last longer.</p><p>The longest possible lunar eclipse is 1 hour and 47 minutes, according to EarthSky. </p><p>The total eclipse will begin at 7:30 p.m. UTC, and end at <span>9:13 p.m. UTC. The peak of the eclipse will occur at 8:22 p.m. UTC.</span></p><p><span>Just a few days after the lunar eclipse, Mars will <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/mars-to-be-the-brightest-it-has-been-in-15-years-2018-6">pass by Earth at its closest point</a> to since 2003. On July 31, the red planet will be only 35.8 million miles away from Earth, making it clearly visible to the naked eye.</span></p><p><span>Stargazers in the Eastern Hemisphere will easily be able to see both Mars and the blood moon on July 27 and 28. </span></p>    <div class="margin-top">        <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/panda-most-overrated-animal-ever-2018-5">Why pandas are the most overrated animals on the planet</a></h3>        <div>                    </div>    </div>

You Searched For "Mars closest to earth" and got 11 results

Mars will come closer to Earth in the coming weeks than it has been in 15 years - here's how to see it

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This Fantastic Picture Shows What The Earth And Mars Look Like From The Moon

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The speed of light is torturously slow, and these 3 simple animations by a scientist at NASA prove it

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The green comet and Mars appear side-by-side this weekend. Spot them together in the night sky.

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