REAL LIFE NEWS: MARS IS ABOUT TO GO INTO REVERSE
by Hazed
For the past few months Mars has been travelling across the night sky in an easterly direction. On New Year’s Day it could be found in the constellation of Libra, and its movements since then have taken it to Capricornus, the constellation of the sea goat. But on June 28, this easterly movement is going to stop, and Mars will be going retrograde.
For the next two months it will go west, before it pauses again on August 28 and turns direction back to an easterly trajectory.
Of course, Mars isn’t really changing direction. It’s the loops made by the orbits as the Earth and Mars go round the sun at different rates make it appear as if it is. It’s just a matter of perspective. You can see the effect when you are driving on a motorway (or highway for our American readers). When you overtake a car which is going in the same direction as you, but moving slower, it will appear to be moving backwards.
When Mars comes to an apparent stop next week, it will be at its closest distance to Earth – just 42.3 million miles. That means it will shine in the night sky 25 times brighter than it did at the start of the year when it was 181 million miles away.
So you won’t have to fly so far to visit Chez Diesel!
Source: https://www.space.com/40968-mars-retrograde-guide.html
