See the moon close to Mars
The waxing crescent moon will move by Mars on the nights of August 18 and 19, 2023. It’ll be closest to Mars on the night of August 18. At their closest, the moon might be 2 degrees – the width of 4 full moons – aside.
Mars has a roughly two-year cycle of visibility in our sky. And, for a lot of that cycle, it’s faint and inconspicuous. However – for a interval of about six months, each couple of years – Mars brightens and seems fairly pink. It occurs across the time Earth passes between Mars and the sun. And that occurred in December 2022.
We handed between the sun and Mars on December 8, 2022, when Mars reached opposition. Now, we’re about as far-off from Mars as we will get, in our smaller, sooner orbit. As a matter of truth, proper now Mars is on the alternative aspect of the solar system from us. It’s 2.45 astronomical items (AU) from us and has light from its current opposition of magnitude -1.9 to its present magnitude +1.77. Whereas Mars remains to be brighter than most stars, it’ll stay faint till it begins to slowly brighten once more later subsequent 12 months.
Our charts are largely set for the northern half of Earth. So, to see a exact view out of your location, attempt Stellarium Online.
The waxing crescent moon
The very slender waxing crescent moon might be about two days outdated on August 18 and shining at magnitude -9.5. After which on August 19, a barely thicker crescent moon might be shining at magnitude -10.2.
One of many causes a younger, skinny crescent moon is so lovely is due to the glow on the unlit portion of the moon generally known as earthshine. That pale glow on the darkish aspect of a crescent moon is mild mirrored from Earth. Are you able to see that delicate – however pretty – glow?
Backside line: After sundown on the evenings of August 18 and 19, 2023, search for a skinny crescent moon close to the planet Mars.
