Photos of fiery Mars, nearly at its best in 2 years – EarthSky

View at EarthSky Community Photos. | Brian Ottum caught the moon and Mars on October 2, 2020. In this photo, Mars is the tiny dot in the upper right. He wrote: I took this from my remote control telescope located in the New Mexico desert. Cloudy here in Michigan, so am happy to see it virtually.'

View at EarthSky Community Photos. | Eliot Herman caught the moon just after full with Mars nearby, on October 2, 2020, from Tucson, Arizona. In this photo, Mars is in the upper left. He wrote: The moon and Mars were really beautiful.

View at EarthSky Community Photos. | Marcelo Barbosa in Texas captured this telescopic image of Mars on September 27, 2020. Mars will reach its once-in-2-years opposition on October 13. Thats when Earth will pass between Mars and the sun, bringing the planet closest to us for this 2-year period. Earth and Mars are already close, and the planet now shines brightly in our night sky. Plus the telescopic view of Mars is nearly at its best now! Thank you, Marcelo!

In late September and early October 2020, the Northern Hemispheres Harvest Moon will shine in the vicinity of brilliant red Mars! Read more.

View at EarthSky Community Photos. | Joel Weatherly in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, caught the northern lights and Mars rising in the same view, September 26, 2020. He wrote: This image features some of my favorite autumn sights, including the aurora borealis, Pleiades, and Mars. This weeks geomagnetic unrest has allowed for multiple nights of aurora observations here in Alberta. Mars has also been an incredible sight to observe, with its signature hue showing up plainly to the unaided eye.

View at EarthSky Community Photos. | Veteran meteor observer Eliot Herman in Tucson used an automatic all-sky camera to capture this cool image of a bright meteor and Mars over Tucson, Arizona, on September 22, 2020. He wrote: Looks like it was shot from Mars not really, of course but it does look like Mars shot it toward Earth. First time I have caught such a conjunction. View this image full-sized. Thank you, Eliot!

View at EarthSky Community Photos. | Paulette Haws captured the planet Mars this past Monday evening, September 21, 2020. Mars is very bright now and fiery red, rising in the east not long after sunset. In this photo, Mars is shining above, and reflected in, Little Tupper Lake in New York state. Thanks, Paulette!

View at EarthSky Community Photos. | Aurelian Neacsu in Visina, Dambovita, Romania, captured this telescopic view of Mars on September 16, 2020. You cant see much of Mars surface when the red planet is at its farthest from Earth. But as Earth catches up to Mars in the race of the planets the distance between our two worlds is shrinking. Thank you, Aurelian!

View at EarthSky Community Photos. | David Kakuktinniq at Rankin Inlet, Nunavut, Canada, also captured red Mars gleaming through the aurora borealis on September 12, 2020. He wrote: Northern Lights over the Hudson Bay, with Mars near the center of the image.

View at EarthSky Community Photos. | Eliot Herman captured this dramatic view of Mars this past weekend, when it was near the moon: Moon and Mars clearing the ridgeline in Tucson, Arizona. The close conjunction of the moon and bright near-opposition Mars was a striking sight. The terminator of the moon shows the terrain picking up light on the craters and mountains leading to the observed discontinuities [the jagged appearance of the upper edge of the moon]. Thank you, Eliot! See more photos of early Septembers moon and Mars.

Bottom line: Photos from the EarthSky community of the bright planet Mars, now nearly at its best. Earth will pass between Mars and the sun bringing the planet to a once-in-two-years opposition on October 13, 2020.

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Photos of fiery Mars, nearly at its best in 2 years - EarthSky