THANKS to all the readers who came along to MoonWatch last Friday night: it was good to meet you all.
I hope you enjoyed the views of the Moon - before it started to rain.
This week the Moon will help you find what is, for me, the most fascinating planet in the solar system: Mars.
Because Mars looks just like a ‘bright red star’ in the sky, and there are quite a few bright red stars in the sky in December, it can be hard to identify. But next weekend the Moon will be shining close to it, which will help pick it out.
Look for the Moon on the evening of December 5 and you'll see an orangey-red star just to its left – that's Mars!
On the following evening the Moon will be directly beneath the Red Planet. Binoculars make it look brighter and more colourful but a telescope is needed to see its ice caps and surface features.
Mars is in the news at the moment because scientists think they've found the fossils of ancient martian bacteria inside a meteorite from the planet. If that's true, we could all be martians!
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