Is Mars the closest planet to Earth?.. That question preoccupied many, so they tried to reach a definitive answer about the planet closest to Earth, and the distance that separates us from it. However, despite the frequent repetition of this question, it cannot be answered conclusively, as according to studies The planets of the solar system are in continuous movement around the sun, and therefore the degree of proximity of one of them to the Earth varies from time to time.
Is Mars the closest planet to Earth?
If we want to answer this question, we must first look at the order of Sun Group Which consists of 8 planets arranged according to their proximity to the sun, which are “Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune”, so with a first look at the arrangement it becomes clear to us that Venus and Mars are the closest to Earth.
According to studies, Venus is closer to Earth than Mars, as the maximum distance separating it from Earth during its journey around the sun does not exceed 257 million km, while the closest distance between them sometimes reaches only 42 km, which is equivalent to half the distance that separates Mars from The Earth is at its closest, according to the American space agency “NASA”, which confirmed that Venus is our closest neighbor, in the event that we talk about the planets closest to Earth while orbiting around the sun.
Venus or Mars is the closest planet to Earth?
Despite the close proximity of the planet Venus to the Earth while revolving around the sun, there are studies that indicate that Mercury is the closest to us, for the reason that it is the first planet in the solar system in terms of its proximity to the largest and most famous star, and thus it is the closest to us, as It is a large part of the orbit of Venus that takes it away from Earth, a distance more than that that separates us from Mercury, according to “Russia Today.” Thus, the saying Mars is the closest planet to Earth, is not true, and Mercury becomes the answer to the question “What is The planet closest to Earth?
Perhaps the reason why many people think that the distance between the two planets Mars and Earth is less compared to the distance between Earth and any other planet in the solar system is that Mars is ranked fourth after Earth in terms of its proximity to the Sun.
In addition to several other reasons, one of them may be the similarity in composition with the planet Earth, as the four seasons trade on it during the year, but it is a belief that has been proven wrong, as the closest distance between the two planets Mars and Earth is estimated at 54.6 million km, which is in the event that the Earth is At the farthest point from the sun, which is called “aphelion”, and Mars is at the closest point to the sun, which is called “perihelion”, which did not happen throughout the entire history, as the closest recorded distance from Mars from planet Earth was in 2003, which was then estimated at 55.7 million km.
A habitable planet outside the solar system
On the issue of the closest planet to Earth, it is worth noting that, for several years, scientists discovered the existence of a habitable planet outside the solar system, and there is a belief that it is the closest planet to Earth, which was monitored through a reflecting telescope at the European Southern Observatory “ESO”, as he pointed out. Scientists have indicated that this planet revolves around the star Proxima Centauri, and it is separated from the sun by about 4.25 light years, and thus, according to the confirmation of the European Observatory, it is the closest to Earth and can be reached, according to the “Russia Today” channel, and thus becomes the saying that Mars nearest planet To Earth, it’s totally wrong, and it’s absolutely wrong.