Now’s the time to catch Mars in the night sky.<br /><br />The red planet is making its closest approach to Earth in 15 years on Tuesday. The two planets will be just 57.6 million kilometres apart.<br /><br />Last week, Mars was already brighter than usual and will shine even more — and appear bigger — on Tuesday. Astronomers expect good viewing through early August.<br /><br />A massive dust storm presently engulfing Mars, however, is obscuring surface details normally visible through telescopes. The Martian atmosphere is so full of dust that NASA’s Opportunity rover can’t recharge — not enough sunlight can reach its solar panels — and so it’s been silent since June 10. Flight controllers don’t expect to hear from 14-year-old Opportunity until the storm subsides, and maybe not even then.
