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Posted by: Scott Carlberg Jul 22 2003, 12:30 PM

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.

Posted by: 72Signal914 Jul 22 2003, 01:40 PM

Where in the hell did you get this info from.

I think it would be cool but I don't have a telescope. Thanks for the info

Posted by: Steve Thacker Jul 22 2003, 01:56 PM

I'm a astrohead to the max. I'll pull out the Celestron and do some tracking. I hope I can get my camera tweaked enough to get some clean shots. The weather and the light pollution here makes for bad viewing, but I'll certainly be out.

Posted by: Mockmaw Jul 22 2003, 02:41 PM

Reminds me of how my parents dragged me out to the Mojave to see Halley's Comet when I was a kid.

Posted by: Mike T Jul 22 2003, 05:46 PM

Much cool stuff for those interested in astronomy in general.

http://www.badastronomy.com/


Mike T

Posted by: TimT Jul 22 2003, 06:12 PM

Very cool, Ill head to my house in Vermont for some "non light polluted" viewing

Posted by: SirAndy Jul 22 2003, 10:49 PM

yepp, they have a few midnight sessions at the chabeau (sp?) space center here ...
i was thinking about attending one, their telescope is pretty old but still some 40 feet long. should be fun.

Andy

Posted by: Scott Carlberg Jul 23 2003, 01:53 AM

just from a former co-worker.

I was just asking IF someone knew if in fact this would be something to check out.

Posted by: need4speed Jul 23 2003, 01:47 PM

with my puny 60mm Celestron, Mars still looks like a tiny pink dot. Same as last year.

These Astronomy sites tend to hype this stuff, saying that it's visible with your typical "backyard telescope" - but in fact, their idea of a typical telescope is 10". Count on spending at least a grand.

There's really only two things to look at with a telescope the size of mine. The Moon, and Jupiter's moons. (both very cool, but y'know, after two or three nights, not really all that exiting anymore.)

Posted by: seanery Jul 23 2003, 01:50 PM

What about (insert female neighbor's name)'s moon?

Posted by: SirAndy Jul 23 2003, 03:41 PM

i'm not sure if i wanna see a closeup of her craters

Posted by: need4speed Jul 24 2003, 02:56 PM

Yeah, my wife has the most spectacular moon on the block (tell her I said so), and I don't need a telescope for that.