Abu Dhabi: People all over the world who observe stars and planets enjoyed a special phenomenon on Wednesday night.
From the UAE, telescopic viewing and astrophotography was possible.
Mars, the Red Planet came closest to the earth at the UAE time 10 :44 pm , reducing the distance between the two plants up to 99.3 million kilometres, Nazar Sallam, the head of the Emirates Mobile Astronomical Observer and the member of the Arab Union for Astronomy and Space Sciences (AUASS) told Gulf News.
The phenomenon occurs every two years, but according to NASA, the US space agency, the Mars was supposed to look bigger through a telescope on Wednesday night than at any time between 2008 and 2012.
Sallem has made an arrangement for the public to watch an equally important phenomenon on Friday night at the Family Park Khalidiya in the capital.
“Mars will be directly opposite the Sun in the sky at 11:48 pm [UAE time]. Professional and amateur astronomers get excited about planetary oppositions because it gives you a fantastic opportunity to watch the planet ”, he explained.
