The last quarter moon in the eastern sky will most likely be noticed by early risers. skywatchers will be interested in a bright orange object that will be floating just a couple of degrees below it.
There is an object in question.
The "M&M" show is one of the things you can see on the moon and Mars. The moon won't be near them. You should be able to fit all three in the same field of view if you wear standard 7-power field glasses.
On August 18th, watch the moon hop over Uranus.
There is a V-shaped star cluster on the left side of Mars. The best star in the V is not a member of the hyades. An innocent bystander shining in the same direction as the stars in the cluster completes the V-shape. The star appears to be the same color as Mars. The right eye of the Bull is marked by Aldebaran.
At this point in time, Aldebaran is only half as bright as Mars. The red planet is getting brighter as it gets closer to our Earth.
Inauspiciously for Mars, the year began. It was dimmer at the beginning of the year and hard to see against the bright dawn twilight sky.
It has been gaining in altitude and brightness over the last few weeks.
On New Year's Day, Mars was located among the stars of the non-zodiacal constellation of Ophiuchus, having recently passed behind the sun.
It wasn't until early April that Mars began to rise as much as two hours before the sun and brightened to magnitude +. It reached the northern hemisphere of the sky on May 30 after crossing the equator. The Earth was 125 million miles away from the sun when it arrived on June 21.
Mars will stay within the confines of the constellation through early next spring, after crossing over from the other side of the zodiac.
On August 23rd, Mars will rise just before midnight and it will be just over 14 million miles from Earth. On August 26th it makes a right angle with the sun and Earth and begins to call attention to itself in the eastern sky.
Mars appears to make a loop in the sky, which causes it to slow down in its eastern advance through the constellation, and then seemingly move to the west. Mars is brought to us as we overtake it. Mars will loop back to the west until the middle of next year, when it will become stationary.
The moment of its closest approach to Earth is on Dec. 1 because of this part of Mars's eccentric slant.
Mars will be more than five times brighter than it is now, and it will glow with a steady, fiery light.
Don't worry if the skies are overcast early Friday. There will be other moon-Mars encounters throughout the year.
It will be something special. The moon will appear to be covering the lower limb of the full moon, while Mars will appear to be covering the upper limb.
Don't forget to mark your calendars.
If you want to take a good photo of the event, you should check out our guide on how to photograph the moon, as well as the best cameras for Astrophotography and best lens for Astrophotography. Check out our guides for the best telescopes and binoculars to see the moon and Mars.
There is an instructor and guest lecturer at New York's Hayden Planetarium. He writes about astronomy for a number of publications. We encourage you to follow us on social media:
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