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The apsides refer to the farthest (2) and nearest (3) points reached by an orbiting planetary body (2 and 3) with respect to a primary, or host, body (1). An apsis (from Ancient Greek ἁψίς (hapsís) 'arch, vault'; pl. apsides / ˈ æ p s ɪ ˌ d iː z / AP-sih-deez) [1] [2] is the farthest or nearest point in the orbit of a planetary body about its primary body.
Extra-close oppositions of Mars happen every 15 to 17 years, when we pass between Mars and the Sun around the time of its perihelion (closest point to the Sun in orbit). The minimum distance between Earth and Mars has been declining over the years, and in 2003 the minimum distance was 55.76 million km, nearer than any such encounter in almost ...
The longitudes of perihelion were only 29 degrees apart at J2000, so the smallest distances, which come when inferior conjunction happens near Earth's perihelion, occur when Venus is near perihelion. An example was the transit of December 6, 1882: Venus reached perihelion Jan 9, 1883, and Earth did the same on December 31.
The ancient Greek astronomer Hipparchus noted the apsidal precession of the Moon's orbit (as the revolution of the Moon's apogee with a period of approximately 8.85 years); [4] it is corrected for in the Antikythera Mechanism (circa 80 BCE) (with the supposed value of 8.88 years per full cycle, correct to within 0.34% of current measurements). [5]
The minimum brightness is magnitude +1.86 when the planet is near aphelion and in conjunction with the Sun. [19] At its brightest, Mars (along with Jupiter) is second only to Venus in apparent brightness. [19] Mars usually appears distinctly yellow, orange, or red. When farthest away from Earth, it is more than seven times farther away than ...
Throughout January, planets Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Neptune and Uranus will all be visible in the night sky. However, the best time to catch a glimpse of the planets will be on Jan. 29, the ...
At θ = 0°, perihelion, the distance is minimum = + At θ = 90° and at θ = 270° the distance is equal to . At θ = 180°, aphelion, the distance is maximum (by definition, aphelion is – invariably – perihelion plus 180°)
The closest in the past 1,000 years was in 1761, when Mars and Jupiter appeared to the naked eye as a single bright object, according to Giorgini. Looking ahead, the year 2348 will be almost as close.