Shooting Stars, Dazzling Mars... October is a Stargazer's Delight

 October 2020 is a special month when it comes to the celestial- two meteor showers, a blue moon on Halloween, and Mars in all its red glory. 

• MARS MOMENT

If you recently spied a bright red star close to moon, that was Mars. The planet is visible at night throughout October, and the reason why its closest approach to Earth. On Oct 6, Mars' orbit came the closest to Earth at 38.59 million miles, according to NASA. The minimum distance between two planets is 33.9 million miles. In 2003, Mars made its closest approach in 60,000 years (34.65 million miles) and the next time it will be that close again is 2035.

• OCTOBER 13 IS THE BIG DAY

Never mind if you missed it, there is another big date coming up for stargazers. On the coming Tuesday, Mars will be in opposition, aligning with the Earth and Sun so that they form a straight line. This means it will be at its brightest, 100% illuminated from the sun, kind of like a full moon but with the red planet.

• WHAT DOES MARS IN OPPOSITION MEAN?

While the orbital period of Earth is 365 days, mars takes 687 days to make a trip around the sun. That means that occasionally- every 26 months- Earth catches upto Mars. This last happened on July 27, 2018. So on October 13, Earth will be between Mars and the sun. 

• WHEN IS THE BEST TIME TO SEE MARS?

As the sun sets, Mars will rise, and Mars will set as the sun rises. Yu don't have to be a professional star gazer or own a telescope to see it either.

• UPCOMING STARRY EVENTS

The Orionid meteor shower will build to a peak on the night of 20/21 October. The Orionids are named because they appear to come from the direction of the constellation Orion. They are assosiated with the famous Halley's comet. 

There is the Taurid meteor shower, which appears to originate near the constellation of Taurus. Look out for it on 10-11 November.