Space

Mars is unusually close this month – here's how to spot it in the sky

Earth and Mars are closer this month than they have been since 2003. To spot the Red Planet, look for a bright red object towards the east after sunset or west before sunrise, says Abigail Beall

14 October 2020

What you need

Enthusiasm for Mars

Good eyesight

A light pair of binoculars, say 7×50

FOR a few weeks this October, Mars overtakes Jupiter to become the third brightest object in the night sky. The only brighter things at this time will be the moon and Venus, which appears in the early hours of the morning. This means that during the evenings, the Red Planet will dominate the skies.

The elliptical orbits of Earth and Mars now bring the planets closer than they have been since 2003. On 6 October, when Mars was closest to Earth, there were about 62…