So near, yet so far: Mars comes closest to Earth, to appear redder and brighter on October 13

Red-planet Mars is currently at its biggest and brightest as the fourth planet in the solar system lines up with Earth, on the same side of the Sun.

Earth and Mars take up the following arrangement every 26 months according to a CNN report. Following their proximity, the two neighbouring planets then disperse on their separate orbits around Sun.

The three bodies, Earth, Sun and Mars will be in a straight line at 23.20 GMT on Sunday, as per a CNN report. 

This moment has been called the “opposition” by astronomers.

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Astrophotographer Damian Peach in an interview to BBC said that the star-gazers can spot the planet around 9’0 clock or 10’o clock.

Peach stated, “But you don’t have to wait until the middle of the night; even now, at nine or 10 o’clock in the evening, you’ll easily see it over in the southeast.”

The Astrophotographer added,  “You can’t miss it, it’s the brightest star-like object in that part of the sky.”

While the two planets will witness the phenomenon of “opposition” coming week, the planets were at their closest last Tuesday.

At their closest, the planets were separated by a distance of 62,069,570 km, the narrowest gap until 2035.

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China, USA and the United Arab Emirates have all taken advantage of the “opposition” to launch space probes to Mars.

The three Mars missions, Emirates’ Hope, USA’s Perseverance and China’s Tianwen are currently in transit, all of which were launched in July.