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Mars to give best views for 13 years
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THE best view of Mars in the night sky for more than a decade began yesterday when the red planet began its closest approach to Earth since 1988.
The Sun, Earth and Mars formed a straight line at 2am yesterday. To the naked eye, the dusty deserts of Mars will appear like a brilliant, fiery yellow-orange disc that will fade as summer progresses until it disappears from the evening sky in October.
Rising at sunset, it will reach its highest point in the sky at midnight and set at sunrise, shining brighter than any other object in its region of the sky, except when the Moon is nearby. The view should be best on June 22, when Mars will reach its closest distance to Earth, about 67 million kilometres away.
It will be easily visible to the naked eye and the polar ice caps will be visible through a small telescope at 40 times magnification.
(SD-Agencies)
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