Earth and Mars, soon closer than ever!

The Red Planet is about to be spectacular again. In October and November 2005, Earth is catching up with Mars in an encounter that will culminate in a new close approach between the 2 planets.
The next time Mars may come this close is in AD 2287. Due to the way Jupiter's gravity tugs on Mars and perturbs its orbit, astronomers can only be certain that Mars has not come this close to Earth in the last 5000 years, but it may be as long as 60.000 years before it happens again. The encounter will culminate on October 30th.
By late October, Mars will be a bright star-like object in the sky and therefore very easy to spot.

Nota: le informazioni pubblicate in precedenza erano riferite al "contatto ravvicinato" Terra/Marte dell'AD 2003.