{"id":37985,"date":"2022-11-11T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2022-11-11T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/?post_type=purple_issue&#038;p=37985"},"modified":"2022-12-01T12:32:37","modified_gmt":"2022-12-01T12:32:37","slug":"welcome-15","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/2022\/11\/11\/welcome-15\/","title":{"rendered":"Welcome"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center intro\">Scopes, binoculars, cameras! Mars is ready for its close-up <\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"no-tts wp-block-image article-in-image photo\"><figure class=\"no-tts alignright is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/dj9jqhxgw9833.cloudfront.net\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2022\/11\/910f319b-3908-4ee8-ab60-706c3be268b5.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"no-tts wp-image-37983\" width=\"157\" height=\"203\" srcset=\"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2022\/11\/910f319b-3908-4ee8-ab60-706c3be268b5.jpg 313w, https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2022\/11\/910f319b-3908-4ee8-ab60-706c3be268b5-231x300.jpg 231w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 157px) 100vw, 157px\" \/><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"article-full-body sans-serif\">If, like me, you\u2019ve been eagerly watching Mars improve in appearance over the past few months, you\u2019ll be excited that December is here. It really is the month of Mars: not only is the Red Planet at its closest to Earth and at opposition this month \u2013 putting it at its brightest and largest for observing \u2013 but on the same date as opposition it will also briefly vanish behind the Moon. This event, a lunar occultation, is rare, so set your alarms early! For all the details, read <a href=\"navto:\/\/index\/32\">The Big Three<\/a> in our Sky Guide, then head to our astrophotography section to find <a href=\"navto:\/\/index\/46\">a guide to photographing<\/a> this exciting meeting of Mars and the Moon. But Mars is well-placed in the night sky all month and well into 2023, so be sure to read our feature to discover <a href=\"navto:\/\/index\/23\">how to maximise this special Mars season<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"article-full-body sans-serif\">This month also marks the 50th anniversary of the launch of Apollo 17, the final Apollo mission and the last time humans set foot on the Moon. We\u2019ve got <a href=\"navto:\/\/index\/25\">a blow-by-blow account<\/a> of this record-breaking mission, as well as an in-depth look at <a href=\"navto:\/\/index\/26\">the rich legacy<\/a> left by the whole Apollo programme. Its imprint is to be found on scientific research and crewed spaceflight up to this day \u2013 and of course is keenly felt with the recent launch of Artemis I. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"article-full-body sans-serif\">Lastly, there\u2019s the chance to win a \u00a3250 Amazon gift voucher when you tell us what you think about the magazine. To share your views, just visit <a href=\"http:\/\/bbcstudios.com\/survey\">bbcstudios.com\/survey<\/a> to take part \u2013 it takes less than 10 minutes to complete. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"article-full-body sans-serif\">Enjoy the issue, and season\u2019s greetings! <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"sans-serif article-byline\">Chris Bramley, Editor <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"article-full-body sans-serif\">PS Our next issue goes on sale on Thursday 15 December. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Scopes, binoculars, cameras! Mars is ready for its close-up <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":24,"featured_media":37877,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ub_ctt_via":"","purple_page_number":"3","purple_custom_meta_purple_page_number":"3","purple_seq_number":"1","purple_custom_meta_purple_seq_number":"1","purple_source_article":"article_3-1.xml","purple_custom_meta_purple_source_article":"article_3-1.xml","purple_source_issue":"December-2022","purple_custom_meta_purple_source_issue":"December-2022","purple_external_id":"December-2022-3-1","purple_custom_meta_purple_external_id":"December-2022-3-1","purple_issue_code":"|0000086559||","purple_custom_meta_purple_issue_code":"|0000086559||","purple_android_product":"com.im.skyatnight.211","purple_custom_meta_purple_android_product":"com.im.skyatnight.211","purple_ios_product":"com.im.skyatnight.211","purple_custom_meta_purple_ios_product":"com.im.skyatnight.211","purple_web_product":"","purple_custom_meta_purple_web_product":"","purple_publication_id":"075fab74-0a21-4201-866a-899d6c41c40c","purple_migrated":"","kt_blocks_editor_width":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[14],"featured_image_src":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2022\/09\/0222XP9XOD285870909875542807-766x1024-1-288x300-1-150x150-1.jpeg","author_info":{"display_name":"importmanagerhub@sprylab.com","author_link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/author\/importmanagerhubsprylab-com\/"},"acf":{"readingTimeMinutes":"2","apple_news_title":""},"uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2022\/09\/0222XP9XOD285870909875542807-766x1024-1-288x300-1-150x150-1.jpeg",150,150,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2022\/09\/0222XP9XOD285870909875542807-766x1024-1-288x300-1-150x150-1-150x150.jpeg",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2022\/09\/0222XP9XOD285870909875542807-766x1024-1-288x300-1-150x150-1.jpeg",150,150,false],"medium_large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2022\/09\/0222XP9XOD285870909875542807-766x1024-1-288x300-1-150x150-1.jpeg",150,150,false],"large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2022\/09\/0222XP9XOD285870909875542807-766x1024-1-288x300-1-150x150-1.jpeg",150,150,false],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2022\/09\/0222XP9XOD285870909875542807-766x1024-1-288x300-1-150x150-1.jpeg",150,150,false],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2022\/09\/0222XP9XOD285870909875542807-766x1024-1-288x300-1-150x150-1.jpeg",150,150,false]},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"importmanagerhub@sprylab.com","author_link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/author\/importmanagerhubsprylab-com\/"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"Scopes, binoculars, cameras! Mars is ready for its close-up","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37985"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/24"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=37985"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37985\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":38919,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37985\/revisions\/38919"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/37877"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=37985"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=37985"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=37985"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}