For the stargazers, August 27th
16 May 2009, 09:17 PM
#1
For the stargazers, August 27th
Mars will be only 34,649,589 miles from Earth and apart from the moon, will be the brightest object in the night sky.
It is the closest the red planet has been to Earth in 5000 years, and may not be this close again until 2287, but may even be as much as 60.000 years.
It will be a magnitude of -2.9, and will be 25.11 arc second wide. With only a 75 magnification, it will appear as big as the moon.
At the beginning of August, it will rise in the east at around 10pm, and reach its highest point around 3am. By the end of August, it will rise at sunset, and reach its highest point just after midnight.
It will be the closest it has been in recorded history.
It is the closest the red planet has been to Earth in 5000 years, and may not be this close again until 2287, but may even be as much as 60.000 years.
It will be a magnitude of -2.9, and will be 25.11 arc second wide. With only a 75 magnification, it will appear as big as the moon.
At the beginning of August, it will rise in the east at around 10pm, and reach its highest point around 3am. By the end of August, it will rise at sunset, and reach its highest point just after midnight.
It will be the closest it has been in recorded history.
17 May 2009, 02:46 AM
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Yeah - that did the rounds leading up to the 2003 opposition of Mars, and sadly keeps rearing it's head every year.
In Aug '03 Mars did indeed come it's closest to Earth for a lo-o-o-o-o-ng time, and it did reach an angular size of 25 arcseconds.
Mars oppositions come just over 2 years apart, and the next one isn't until late January 2010, when it'll get to only 14 arseconds this time round. Most of the time, Mars is less than 6 arcseconds.
For anyone with a telescope, best time will be from about early December, until the end of March. It'll be about 10 arcsec in early Dec, grow to to 14 by late Jan, then fade back down to about 10 arcsec towards the end of March.
At opposition you'll need upwards of 125x magnification for it to appear about the same size in the telescope as the Moon looks to the naked eye.
In Aug '03 Mars did indeed come it's closest to Earth for a lo-o-o-o-o-ng time, and it did reach an angular size of 25 arcseconds.
Mars oppositions come just over 2 years apart, and the next one isn't until late January 2010, when it'll get to only 14 arseconds this time round. Most of the time, Mars is less than 6 arcseconds.
For anyone with a telescope, best time will be from about early December, until the end of March. It'll be about 10 arcsec in early Dec, grow to to 14 by late Jan, then fade back down to about 10 arcsec towards the end of March.
At opposition you'll need upwards of 125x magnification for it to appear about the same size in the telescope as the Moon looks to the naked eye.
Last edited by carlos_dfc; 17 May 2009 at 02:48 AM.
17 May 2009, 08:10 AM
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One thing that is certain for Early August is the Persieds.
Clear skys will guarantee good views of long trailed meteors
they travel approx NNE to SSW and are best viewed after midnight
Mart
Clear skys will guarantee good views of long trailed meteors
they travel approx NNE to SSW and are best viewed after midnight
Mart
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