The Great Conjunction

Looking back on 2020, the entire world has been and is still suffering high levels of stress and anxiety from this pandemic. Normal life came to a screaming halt as we had to find different ways to entertain ourselves such as reading, doing crafts and binge-watching TV for hours on end while others learned something new. As did early civilizations millennia ago, people have started looking at the night sky as an escape. There are news reports that telescope sales are way up showing interest in astronomy is mounting.

Mars makes closest approach to Earth for next 15 Years on October 6

October 6 - The red planet will be making its closest approach to Earth in 15 years. This will give us an incredible look at our planetary neighbour. 

A week after this, Mars will reach opposition. An opposition is when Earth is located in a straight line directly between the sun and another orbiting planet in our solar system. Mars oppositions happen around every other year. This year’s opposition is on Oct 13, however a week earlier will be the best time to observe Mars. 

NEOWISE – The Little Comet That Did

Not since the memorable appearances of Comets Hyakutake in 1996 and Hale-Bopp in 1997 has the world had the opportunity to see and photograph a fantastic naked-eye comet. Discovered on March 27, 2020, Comet C/2020 F3 NEOWISE rounded the sun on July 3 at a close approach of 43 million kilometres and survived. Two other comets namely Atlas and Swan fizzled out a few months prior and so did our opportunity to see these celestial visitors.

Bootes