Set your clocks and get ready to look up at the sky as this month is about to be your best chance to see Mars for the next 15 years.
Mars will make its closest approach to Earth in more than two years this month, and with NASA having described the red planet’s appearance as “effectively a ‘full’ Mars”, this offers us the best chance to view our planetary neighbour in nearly 20 years.
If the typical Manchester weather permits, that is.
The planet will be visible at night throughout October – rising the highest in the sky around midnight each night – and will shine in the east each evening and in the west before dawn, but next Tuesday 13th October is the big date to mark in your diaries though, as Mars will shine brighter in the sky than it has since 2003, and will not appear like this again until 2035.
Mars is a pretty impressive planet and one that we are learning more about everyday, but it doesn’t always make an appearance like this, so why are we so lucky this month?
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Well, according to NASA, it’s due to a celestial event known as the Mars’ Opposition.
Mars reaches opposition every 26 months – meaning Earth passes directly between the Sun and Mars – and this is due to take place next week.
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Millions of miles separate the Moon and Mars, but you’ll see them close together in the sky tonight (they’ll rise in the East around 8 pm local time). That’s because Earth, the Moon, and Mars are nearly lined up. Check out our virtual solar system: https://t.co/5YjIBXKLcGpic.twitter.com/ma46iZ6Xit
This event occurs as Mars and Earth don’t orbit the sun in perfect circles, or even on the same plane, and instead, the planets have elliptical orbits shaped like ovals, so for example, while Earth only takes 365 days to complete an orbit around the sun, Mars takes 687 days.
Basically, when Earth moves closer to the sun, Mars moves away from it.
The red planet is due to make its closest approach to Earth today, meaning that Mars will be 38,586,816 miles away from Earth – which, believe it or not, is actually close for Mars – and it won’t be this close again until 2035.
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The last time this happened was in 2003 when Mars made its closest approach to Earth in 60,000 years and came within a distance of 34.65 million miles.
Even though Mars is at its closest point tonight, it won’t actually be at its very brightest until next Tuesday, so although you’ll have a great view of it tonight, you should get an even better chance to pick it out in the night sky next week.
Fingers crossed for clear skies, right Manchester?
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The cheapest Christmas Markets in the world for mulled wine have been revealed
Daisy Jackson
The most affordable Christmas Markets for drinking mulled wine have been revealed – and Manchester is nowhere in sight.
With Christmas markets across Europe preparing to welcome millions of visitors, festive fans looking to enjoy a warming cup of glühwein without breaking the bank might want to take note of the latest findings.
Festive experts at Christmas Tree World have analysed mulled wine prices at Christmas markets around the world to discover where visitors can enjoy the seasonal favourite for less.
Topping the rankings is Brussels’ Winter Wonders, where mulled wine is available for as little as £2.14 – about a third of the price of a mulled wine at the Manchester Christmas Markets.
Cologne Cathedral Christmas Markets and Strasbourg’s Christkindelsmärik share second place, with starting prices of just £2.56.
Other European favourites also feature prominently in the rankings. Budapest’s Christmas Market at the Basilica takes fourth place, with mulled wine costing £3.19, while Prague’s Old Town Square Christmas Market comes in sixth at £3.55.
Germany makes another strong appearance, with Dresden’s Striezelmarkt and Nuremberg’s Christkindlesmarkt (which handily just launched new direct flights from Manchester) both offering mulled wine for £3.85.
Meanwhile, Vienna’s Christmas World rounds off the European entries in ninth place, with prices starting at £4.28.
For those planning a festive adventure further afield, Tokyo’s Christmas Market also makes the top five, with mulled wine costing £3.22.
However, not every destination offers such a bargain. Across the Atlantic, New York City’s Winter Village takes the title of the most expensive market in the study, with mulled wine costing a rather less festive £11.74. Chicago’s Christkindlmarket isn’t far behind, charging £8.80.
Manchester Christmas Markets start on Friday 6 November – we’ll see how our prices stack up then.
Sir Ian McKellen pays emotional tribute to long-time friend and fellow northern actor Sir Patrick Stewart
Emily Sergeant
Sir Ian McKellen has paid an emotional tribute to his long-time friend and fellow northern actor, Sir Patrick Stewart, following his death.
Sir Patrick Stewart – who was born and bred in Mirfield, West Yorkshire, and is best-known for his theatre work alongside an illustrious 60-year screen career, taking on prominent roles in franchises such as Star Trek and X-Men – sadly passed away at the age of 86, with his death being announced publicly yesterday evening (29 October).
And now, his long-time friend and fellow northern actor, Sir Ian McKellen, has paid tribute.
Sir Patrick and Sir Ian shared the stage together countless times over their decades-long careers, but also famously starred alongside each other in the X-Men franchise, and subsequent Marvel movies, as Charles Xavier/Professor X and Magneto.
The tribute, shared across Sir Ian’s social media platforms, reads: “Before everything else, Patrick was defined by being born and bred in Yorkshire, the proud county in the north of England which he loved to the end. You could hear it in his accented voice and in the stern honesty with which he told you what he thought and felt. Yorkshiremen have no truck with half-truths or avoidance of big issues. He wore his heart on his sleeve, which made him a man to rely on, to admire and in my case, love.
“We first met as ambitious young actors with the Royal Shakespeare Company half a century ago but we weren’t in the same productions.
“My first strong memory was a few years later, meeting him in the street in central London when he told me about an offer to take over a leading part in ‘Star Trek’. “But Patrick think of your stage career in the UK. Do you really want to risk getting lost in Hollywood for years and years?”
“Well, he took the risk and thank goodness for us all that he did, for not just his devoted Trekkies, but film and theatre audiences who marvelled at his using international celebrity to star in a string of cinema successes (‘X-Men’ of course) and in great classical plays by Shakespeare, Ibsen, Arthur Miller, Peter Shaffer, Pinter and Beckett at Stratford-upon-Avon, in London’s West End and on Broadway.
“America was his adopted home, where he met his adored Sunny who has cared for him through sickness and health, through thick and thin.
“But he never forsook his origins: and the proudest achievement of the most respected and beloved actor of his generation on either side of the Atlantic, was his appointment as Chancellor of Huddersfield University in Yorkshire.”
Emily Sergeant -
6th October 2020 
