MARS is one of the most fascinating planets to observe, but also one of the most difficult.
If you fancy trying to spot the red planet this month, it will be shining like a pink star a few hours after sunset.
Budding stargazers will need to look west and to the right of the Taurus constellation.
Nasa’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) has recommended looking around March 7.
Once you locate Mars, try looking up and to the left and you should see the three stars that make up Orion’s belt.
If there happens to be cloudy skies on March 7, it won’t make too much difference to look another night.
AP:Associated PressThe three stars that make up Orion’s belt can be seen to the left of the shooting star in this image[/caption]
Once you spot the Red Planet you’ll be able to imagine Nasa‘s Perseverance rover that’s currently searching for life on its surface.
Sometimes smartphones can be useful to point out the location of constellations and planets in the night sky.
You can try downloading an app to point yourself in the right direction.
Make sure you give your eyes a break from your phone afterwards though, stargazing is best when your eyes have adjusted to the dark.
Stargazing apps for Android and iPhone include SkyView Lite, Star Tracker and Star Walk 2.
Some apps are free but a lot of them charge so it depends if you want to put up with adverts or not.
What does it mean for Perseverance?
Despite the death of Ingenuity, Perseverance will continue its work on Mars looking for sign of life.
Perseverance boasts a total of 19 cameras and two microphones, and carries seven scientific instruments.
1. Planetary Instrument for X-Ray Lithochemistry (PIXL)
An X-ray “ray gun” that will help scientists investigate the composition of Martian rock.
2. Radar Imager for Mars’ subsurface experiment (RIMFAX)
A ground-penetrating radar that will image buried rocks, meteorites, and even possible underground water sources up to a depth of 10 metres (33ft).
3. Mars Environmental Dynamics Analyzer (MEDA)
A bunch of sensors that will take readings of temperature, wind speed and direction, pressure, and other atmospheric conditions.
4. Mars Oxygen ISRU Experiment (MOXIE)
An experiment that will convert Martian carbon dioxide into oxygen. A scaled-up version could be used in future to provide Martian colonists with breathable air.
5. SuperCam
A suite of instruments for measuring the makeup of rocks and regolith at a distance
6. Mastcam-Z
A camera system capable of taking “3D” images by combining two or more photos into one.
7. Scanning Habitable Environments with Raman and Luminescence for Organics and Chemicals (SHERLOC)
From Baker Street to Mars: Sherloc contains an ultraviolet laser that will investigate Martian rock for organic compounds.
It’s advisable to read the reviews of an app and look at how many people have rated it before downloading.
The distance between Mars and Earth depends on where the planets are in their orbits of the Sun.
Usually, the planet is around 33.9million miles (54.6m kilometres) away from Earth at its closest.
At its furthest Mars is 250 million miles away from our planet.
Mars has just two moons – Phobos and Deimos.
It is the second most habitable planet in our Solar System, after Earth.
It’s not extremely hot or cold and it’s thought to have enough gravity for the human body to be able to adapt.
However, as there is no oxygen, humans wouldn’t be able to breathe unless they had their own oxygen supply.
The soil is toxic, water is scarce and you’d need protection from radiation and the cold.
In July 2023, Nasa’s Perseverance rover uncovered organic molecules on the planet.
The findings provide fresh clues that there could been life once on Mars.
Also known as biosignatures, organic molecules are chemical compounds normally found in living systems.
“They are an exciting clue for astrobiologists since they are often thought of as building blocks of life,” Joseph Razzell Hollis, a postdoctoral fellow at London’s Natural History Museum told Newsweek.