Sharing Experience Seeing Mars with Naked Eyes from the Yard

Like Earth, Mars is a planet; situated at orbit next to us in the solar systems. Its colour is red and has 2 natural satellites (moons) called Phobos & Deimos. We can have the chance to see this planet about every 26 months. Unlike other planets and stars, amazingly we can see this planet by naked eyes instead of seeing using the telescope. On this post, I have & also want to share an experience about this.

It occur around October 2005, when I was in Standard 5 (11 years old). On some daylight, I've read an article in a Malay newspaper which states that Malaysian have the chance to see Mars on date x and time y (I don't remember when exactly. Just remember at night after Isya' prayer). When the time comes in, I stare the night sky with my mother at side-yard of the house.

This photo is just for illustration on how mom & I watching Mars. Unlike this photo, actually during that time, the sky is darker; the Moon is in full phase; several other real stars appear & blinking; there's no aeroplane's contrails like this picture.

Subhanallah, without the telescope we can see an unblinking red 'star', little big than another. We believe that 'star' is planet Mars based on the signs stated by Ciaran O'Hare from University of Nottingham, "You won't need a telescope as Mars is always visible to the naked eye. It'll be quite bright, brighter than all the other nearby stars & will have an orangey-red hue...and does not 'twinkle' like stars do." Even we can also see its surface which has cloudy in some part (indicates that we actually see some regional dust storm); the same as you watch the moon's surface in detail. This unforgettable moment I just can share now because of the limitation of social media technology advancement at that time plus getting busier as I become older.

Here's the scientific explanation on Mars opposition at that time...

Earth moves around the Sun more quickly than Mars. Every 26 months, Earth 'laps' Mars on 'the inside lane'. When Earth passes Mars, astronomers call the event an 'opposition'. During an opposition, the Sun, Earth, and Mars form a straight line with Earth in the middle. Viewed from Earth, Mars is on the opposite side of the sky from the Sun. Opposition is the time in each 26-month cycle when Mars and Earth are closest together.

Hope someday I have a lot of time to spend for watching other possible planets when they orbit at nearest distance to Earth. Furthermore, if God wills, I want to have a lot of money so I can set the space tourism to Mars and Moon with my loved ones.