Seen Mars?

Joined
Mar 9, 2005
Messages
13,887
Likes
220
Location
Haverhill, MA
Feedback: 0 / 0 / 0
As big as the moon???? yikes!

The Red Planet is about to be spectacular!

This month and next, Earth is catching up with Mars in 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 before it happens again.

The encounter will culminate on August 27th when
Mars comes to within 34,649,589 miles of Earth 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 the naked eye. Mars will be easy to spot. At the beginning of August it will rise in the east at 10p.m. and reach its azimuth at about 3 a.m.

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 12:30a.m.


So it's going to be pretty easy to see something that no human being 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.

Edited typo - Lynne
 
I think that improper spacing hit. I am guessing that this should have read,

" At a modest 75-power magnification Mars will look as large as the full moon to the naked eye."
 
That makes more sense Frosty, thanks. That's how I got it and lemme tell ya, I was quite stunned. It'll still be cool to see it that close tho. :D
 
we are pretty lucky. I can't believe something that is 34 million miles away will look that large.
 
Ya know...I usually check these things out before I post stuff, but I got it from someone who also usually checks things out...next time I'll know better. [roll]
 
Lynne said:
Ya know...I usually check these things out before I post stuff, but I got it from someone who also usually checks things out...next time I'll know better. [roll]

I'm just disappointed it's not going to be until Oct and it won't be as close. :(
 
I've had a pool going to see just how long this thread could go on before somebody bould no longer control themselves and had to post something like that. Now I can check to see who one the pot.

Ken
 
New hi-res pics of the Martian surface:


content-1585157137-channels.jpg
 
WOW, what's that 15 years since lat post in this thread? I thinks we may be running low on internet to explore.
 
Study that picture closely and you'll see the erosion makes no sense. It doesn't look anything like water erosion or sand scouring. Looks very little like lava flows to me, also. It's an endless series of pits of varying depth. There's no widely accepted explanation for how Valles Marineris was formed. It's a very satisfying mystery.
 
Back
Top Bottom