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Mars at its brightest during opposition with the Earth. This occurs when it is in line with the Sun and the Earth. It appears here on the right, below the blue-white star Spica in the constellation of Virgo. Photographed from La Silla Observatory in the southern Atacama Desert, Chile. This site is operated by the European Southern Observatory (ESO). La Silla was ESO's first observing site and is still one of the leading observatories in the southern hemisphere. (KEYSTONE/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY/BABAK TAFRESHI, TWAN/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY)