Close Encounter With Mars

[GILD]

CLOSE ENCOUNTER WITH MARS

Never again in your lifetime will the Red Planet be so spectacular. This
month and next, Earth is catching up with Mars, an encounter that will culminate
in the closest approach between the two planets in recorded history. The next
time Mars may come this close is in 2287.

Due to the way Jupiter's gravity tugs on Mars and perturbs its orbit,
astronomers can only be certain that Mars has not come this close to Earth in the
last 5,000 years but it may be as long as 60,000 years. The encounter will
culminate on August 27th when Mars comes to within 34,649,589 miles and will be
(next to the moon) the brightest object in the night sky. It will attain a
magnitude of -2.9 and will appear 25.11 arc seconds wide. At a modest 75-power
magnification Mars will look as large as the full moon to he naked eye.

Mars will be easy to spot. At the beginning of August, Mars will rise in the
east at 10 p.m. and reach its azimuth at about 3 a.m. But by the end of August
when the two planets are closest, Mars will rise at nightfall and reach its
highest point in the sky at 12:30 a.m.

That's pretty convenient when it comes to seeing something that no human has
seen in recorded history.

So mark your calendar at the beginning of August to see Mars grow
progressively brighter and brighter throughout the month.

Share with your children and grandchildren. No one alive today will ever
see this again.

[hell-on-wheel]

Will this only be seen in the lower hemisphere (i.e. South Africa)?

[Bruce Dawson]

Originally posted by hell-on-wheel
Will this only be seen in the lower hemisphere (i.e. South Africa)?

Mars will be/is/always is visible from everywhere. It follows roughly the same pass through the sky as the sun, so if you can see the sun from where you live...

It's currently rising a bit late, and doesn't peak until about 2:30 in the morning. In a month or so it will be much more accessible, and closer.

I saw it through a telescope last weekend, at 2:00 in the morning. Awesome. Seeing the south polar cap of another planet is pretty cool.

[GILD]

Originally posted by Bruce Dawson
Mars will be/is/always is visible from everywhere. It follows roughly the same pass through the sky as the sun, so if you can see the sun from where you live...

does that mean i have to start looking in the same place where the sun rose that morning?
how do i know mars from the other blinky lil' starry things?

[jagur]

its 1:17 Pacific S,Time

i'll be up for another hour,what part of the sky should i point my 6x35 binoculars at.......?

give me a trident to work from.

[jagur]

Originally posted by jagur
its 1:17 Pacific S,Time

i'll be up for another hour,what part of the sky should i point my 6x35 binoculars at.......?

give me a trident to work from.

OK well its been about an hour now,im going to brush my teeth....good night........................................zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz zzzzzzzzzz...........zzzzzzzzzzzzzz...............ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ

[James_Potter]

Originally posted by GILD


how do i know mars from the other blinky lil' starry things?

Mars is tinted red a little bit.

[sendhair]

Originally posted by GILD



how do i know mars from the other blinky lil' starry things?

Mars is the one that looks like this.


More Mars links!

[sendhair]

One more cool Mars link. It's a cartoon.