A look at Mars in the next month...

[jeep]

CLOSE ENCOUNTER WITH MARS

Never again in our lifetime will the Red Planet look 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.

Get your cameras ready. No one alive today will ever see this again...

Brian

[henryD]

Thanks for the tip Brian.

Are you an astronomy buff too?

Now to go grab some bug spray and head out to that field....

[jeep]

Lol... I won't even need to dig my telescope out for this one...

[Carol_Roberts]

Is that Pacific time? or would it be happening at 12:30 eastern and 9:30 pacific time?

[jeep]

I believe it's Eastern time. They're already watching the progress...


http://www.space.com/spacewatch/where_is_mars.html

Brian

[jeep]

We've been having a drout and a heatwave for the past 2 months, and the only time the clouds move in and it rains was last night >

I guess I'll have to wait another 287 years to see it...

[limige]

it's still there, just keep looking sooner or later those clouds have to break!

[FischAutoTechGarten]

I went to the University of New York, Albany Campus to the Earth Sciences building to view it last night. My wife and I were about 400th in line to get into the planetarium that holds only 20 people. We never made it in. Oh well.

[discuskrib]

Peter- how close did you make it in line? sorry about your luck

[FischAutoTechGarten]

No idea, we were told by the staff at the door we were about 400th in line.
We waited in a hot staircase for 30 minutes without moving. Didnt' see the point in staying.