Mars has become a lot harder to find lately. Ever since we passed the red planet almost a year ago, it’s been getting dimmer; our faster-moving earth increases the distance between the two, leaving Mars farther and farther behind. But you should be able to find it tonight, because the moon will appear alongside it this evening, acting like a kind of cosmic bookmark in the sky. Go outside after sunset and face toward the west. If skies are clear and nothing blocks your view, you should be able to find the moon, a slender crescent a little ways above the western horizon. Immediately below the moon you should also find a slightly red-tinged star. But that isn’t Mars, it’s a red giant star called Aldebaran, and it marks the eye of Taurus the Bull. Now look to the right of the moon and Aldebaran and you’ll find another red star, and that’s Mars.
Fri Apr 28, 2017 MOON NEAR MARS AND ALDEBARAN
