Mars Spectacular!

[steph]

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

 

[Nige]

Thanks for that Steph. Mars coming to within 34,649,589 miles of Earth is rather an exact figure. I wonder how the astromoners came to that figure? It may be worth taking some photos of the event.

 

[steph]

You're welcome hon...Isn't that crazy? Should be very cool!
XOXO

 

[His Divine Shadow]

I wonder how the astromoners came to that figure?

Math. Lots and lots of math that would likely make even the TMF's math wizard Milagros shudder. 😛


Thanks for the heads-up, Steph. I live in an area of clear skies and no light pollution, so it should be quite a sight.

 

[mtlhd]

astronomy is coo.

I have always been excited by astronomy! thanks for hte post steph !!!!!!!!!!


the metalhead

 

[Cokecan]

Just FYI - this is called a perihelic opposition. It actually happened in 2003, and it was spectacular to see.

This info circulated in 2003... I don't know why it is circulating again, though.

 

[steph]

Oh crap, are you kidding me?

Ok, I just received this. Can one of our scientists verify it's not for real so I can ask in shame for it to be removed?

XOXO

 

[His Divine Shadow]

According to about a bajillion Google results...it was 2003. That must have been what that tiny voice in the back of my head was trying to tell me when I first saw this thread. 😛

 

[steph]

Ohhhhhhhhh
A million apologies for getting people's hopes up~forgive me gang?
XOXO

 

[TklDuo-Ann]

http://www.angelfire.com/pa/lkmarvin/Sounds/Disngrat.wav

 

[steph]

LMAO~Thanks Ann!
XOXO

 

[Nige]

So did i missed it then??

 

[TickledToDeath]

A mere 34,649,589 miles away from earth. We should have hopped a shuttle and taken a vacation.

TTD 🙄

 

[AffectionateDan]

Nope.

Ohhhhhhhhh
A million apologies for getting people's hopes up~forgive me gang?
XOXO

Punished, you will be, youngling.

 

[steph]

Yeah, yeah... 😛

Punished, you will be, youngling.

 

[steph]

I didn't realize you were so close buggs! I LOVE the rain. I've wanted to move to Seattle or London for YEARS, just for the weather. It's still "spring" here and in the 90s~yuck!
XOXO

 

[BigJim]

Speaking as the TMF's resident astronomer...:-D

Mars comes into opposition with Earth every two years because the Martian year is almost exactly twice as long as the terrestrial one (687 days to our 365). This means they are at their position next to each other at the narrowest parts of their elliptical orbit when the Earth "catches up" to the red planet. There are however small variations to this cycles so no one opposition to earth is ever the same for Mars. This one will indeed be quite close, by inter-planetary terms.

Just one small note of dissent though...

Mars will not come remotely close to appearing as large as the full moon to the naked eye. As the article says, Mars will range between -2.5 and -3 in magnitude during this event. The full moon is roughly -16 in magnitude and the sun - 28 at midday. Mars will be big, but it will not be anywhere near the moon's size. It would have to come within 2 million miles of us for that to happen. Mars is a third the size of the earth, the moon about a quarter (speaking diameter wise). There isn't a huge amount of different between them. Mars has about double the mass of the moon because it's made of denser materials and probably has an active and molten core. Considering their near similarity it would be a miracle if Mars were the size of the moon when it will only come as close as thirty four and a half million miles and the moon orbits at an average of two hundred and forty thousand.

Okay, y'all can wake up now. 😀

 

[steph]

Thanks!

Most impressive Big Jim ~and here I thought you did something ELSE for a living...🙂

XOXO

 

[BigJim]

lol


Well the bug bit me bad at around the age of seven years old, and I've been a terminal case ever since. It is what I always wanted to do for a living, but sadly I missed out on school when I left at 15.

To be an astronomer you need three A-Levels with top A grades in maths, physics and another science subject (and a language doesn't hurt as a fourth one either). This is the equivalent of graduating High School with the best grades you can possibly get in all core subjects with a heavy leaning towards the sciences and maths. You then need a top scoring degree in physics or maths, followed by a further graduates degree in astro-physics or geology & planetary science. All in all if you stay at school the whole time and are a full time student, you won't come out of education till you're 25 or therabouts. I'm already two years older than that and I don't even have the qualifications needed to sit for A-Levels, let alone the A-Levels themselves.


Ah well, it's an enjoyable hobby nonetheless. Mars is my special area of interest within astronomy itself.