Mars


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. That's pretty convenient 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.
Share this with your children and grandchildren.

NO ONE ALIVE TODAY WILL EVER SEE THIS AGAIN

i CANT WAIT!!

WOW THATS SOO COOL

I take pictures of the moon, do you think it will be possible to get a good shot, without a long lens, of Mars?

I have no idea bu8t doesnt hurt to try, im gonna take pics as well :)

Knowing myself, I'll probably sleep throught the whole thing, but I'm going to try and at least see that. This should be more interesting than the lunar eclipse our 5th grade teacher showed us back in 95.

Question: Where did you get this information? Do you work for NASA or something?

I have some awesome shots of the moon, the tree that is in the picture looks fake. I'll have to give it a shot and see.
Have you ever been to deviantart.com?
You can look at stuff other people have done, even post pictures yourself. My daughter got my into it, now i have some of the pictures I have taken on there.

Thats Awesome

I' am certain to look for it, thanks for letting us know, how cool

If It's August...
It’s time for the annual “Mars will appear as big as the Full Moon” email! It’s been going around this time of year, every year since 2003... and it’s still wrong!
This widespread email says that on August 27, Mars will be so close to the Earth, it will look as big as the full Moon. This claim is a misinterpretation of a real event in 2003 when Mars was relatively close to Earth. But Mars really never gets that close to Earth. The only way Mars would ever look as big as the Full Moon from Earth would be through the eyepiece of a telescope.
The email never mentions the year this is supposed to happen. And so the message gets passed around year after year, with no signs of stopping. If you get this email, our advice is: click “delete”!

Still, if you want to imagine what Mars could look like if it were as big as the Full Moon, you’ll have a good opportunity on August 28, when the Full Moon slips into the shadow of the Earth, during a total lunar eclipse. As it nears totality, the Moon will turn a deep red color, reminiscent of Mars’ rusty color. The color change is caused by Earth’s atmosphere scattering sunlight on its way to the lunar surface.

Here’s the catch: the lunar eclipse begins at 3:51 AM on the morning of August 28. It reaches totality at 4:52 AM and ends at 6:18 AM. From my location in Illinois, the Moon sets in the west at 6:21 AM that morning, so we won’t get to see the entire event. Just as totality ends, the Sun will be rising.