Mars will be at perigee, its closest point to Earth, on Sunday, Jan. 12, appearing bigger and brighter in the sky. Here’s how to view the Red Planet at its best for 2025.

generated by our planet's rotation and its iron-nickel core. This teardrop-shaped field shields Earth from high-energy particles launched at us from the sun and elsewhere in the cosmos.

Mars has a far thinner atmosphere than Earth, which dramatically lessens how much heat the planet can trap near its surface. Surface temperatures on Mars can reach as high as 70 degrees Fahrenheit ...