Mars and the close encounter - TranceAddict Forums

TranceAddict Forums (www.tranceaddict.com/forums)
- Chill Out Room
-- Mars and the close encounter
Pages (2): « 1 [2]

Posted by Streakfury on Aug-25-2003 14:36:

quote:
Originally posted by Theresa
That's sorta creepy... I wonder, will it look red?

Yeah, it looks red. It's pretty cool, you can see it really well. Doesnt do much tho, being a planet and all.

Posted by monoxide on Aug-25-2003 14:51:

Re: Mars and the close encounter

quote:
Originally posted by DJ APX
Mars and the close encounter

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 the 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.
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.

yup.... all papers wrote bout it last week. already have seen it. looks like a big red shiny star

Posted by P4z! on Aug-25-2003 15:02:

I'll try to fix some pics today, if the sky is clear.

Posted by DJ APX on Aug-27-2003 01:48:

Posted by DR86 on Aug-27-2003 03:35:

It's August 26th at about 11:30 p.m. here in New Jersey, USA. I just went outside and took a look around. There was a yellowish star in the southern sky, i'm making sure that it wasn't Venus or Sagitauris. I'm probably gonna be out ther at about 5:50 a/m/ on the 27th to take a look. that's when they it will be the brightest. too bad i haven't got a telescope.

Posted by PhloTron on Aug-27-2003 20:08:

Well I been looking at it for weeks ... but I did manage to see it as well when it was "the closest"...granted it didn't look much different...still bright and neat and all...

Here's my "artists impression" of what it looked like last night

.

Pages (2): « 1 [2]