October 28, 2005

Mars: Look Up and See it Tonight

If you see the planet Mars in the sky this weekend, it will be the closest look you will have at the 'red planet' until 2018. Mars is now closer to Earth than it has ever been (except for a period in 2003) in the past 60,000 years.

Normally the Earth and Mars are 140 million miles apart, but this weekend, that's been narrowed to 41 million miles.


This weekend also features a Venus-Pluto conjunction. This can bring on intense passionate feelings and love-affairs. Enjoy your Halloween parties this weekend, they are due to be more raunchy and primal than usual.

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The image above is Mars as seen by NASA's Hubble Space Telescope when it was about 43 million miles from Earth.
See Where is Mars in the night sky by NASA.