March 3, 2012

Slooh La La: Watch Mars Up Close Tonight

The Red Planet will be the closest distance to Earth in over two years tonight in an event called The Mars Opposition. That means martian features and polar caps will be as visible as it gets.

Slooh, the robotic telescope that offers real-time web-based views of space, will be bringing you the action here beginning at 11:00 p.m. EST tonight. If you are not familiar with Slooh, the name is derived from “slew,” the movement of a telescope, and “ooh,” as in ooh la la.

The diagram below, courtesy of Courtney Seligman, shows the approximately 2 years and 2 month “synodic period” in which Earth passes in between Mars and the Sun.

Follow Daniel Honan on Twitter @Daniel Honan

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