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Mars approach

The planet Mars, like Earth, has clouds in its atmosphere and a deposit of ice at its north pole. But unlike Earth, Mars has no liquid water on its
surface. The rustlike color of Mars comes from the large amount of iron in the planet's soil.
(NASA/JPL/Malin Space Science Systems)

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.

Share this!
No one alive today will ever see this again.
 
***eyes open wide with interest*** COOOOOOOOOOOOOOOL!!! God, I MUST SEE!!! I can't wait for this! I'm so intrigued by outer space... any program on TV about anything in space, especially about black holes (they mess with time and space... huh? Whaz zat mean?) and planets and space catastrophies (like the prediction that the galaxy Andromeda will eventually collide with the Milky Way galaxy... oooooo), I'm sitting on the couch, completely absorbed and looking like a zombie and eating peanuts mechanically. LOL... anyhowees, ME MUST SEE!
 
no one really knows what a black hole is. All people know right now is that it sucks up anything in its path and it dissapears forever, it just turns into nothing... I heard there is one not too far away from the milky way
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Thanks for the info Tamlin, I will definetly mark my calender and have my eyes peeled. Spec, some say the center of the milky way IS a black hole slowly "eating" everything including light.
Kevin
 
</span><table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1"><tr><td>Quote (FlytrapGurl @ July 29 2003,12:57)</td></tr><tr><td id="QUOTE">***eyes open wide with interest*** COOOOOOOOOOOOOOOL!!! God, I MUST SEE!!! I can't wait for this! I'm so intrigued by outer space... any program on TV about anything in space, especially about black holes (they mess with time and space... huh? Whaz zat mean?) and planets and space catastrophies (like the prediction that the galaxy Andromeda will eventually collide with the Milky Way galaxy... oooooo), I'm sitting on the couch, completely absorbed and looking like a zombie and eating peanuts mechanically. LOL... anyhowees, ME MUST SEE![/QUOTE]<span id='postcolor'>
LOL.. You sound just like me (only I eat popcorn
tounge.gif
) I can sit and be glued to a space show on NOVA or Discovery Channel that I've already seen 5 times.

Thanks for the tip Tamlin, I'll definately have to check that out.


Steve
 
I'm really pleased that you brought this up. It's really quite a fascinating event. I had my scope out this weekend for a tune-up run. I love summer viewing! I love nebulas!

I'm stoked! I encourage anyone to seek out a star party in your area. There are literally hundreds being planned around this event globally. There is likely one happening near you; and for the most part they are generally open to the public.

If you don't have a telescope and are a hermit. If you happen to have a pair of binoculars handy, you might just get a decent view.

Cheers!
Chris
 
Yay Tamlin! Leave it to you to bring this up on the forum. I've been waiting for this to come for about 8 months now.
wink.gif
I will absolutly have my telescope out for this event! (or shall i say the durration of the event.
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)
 
I thought that scientists did know what black holes were... Just collapsed stars. Ie. the mass of a star, only infinatly small, because it's gravitational pull is so great that it collapses on itself, and by doing so, its gravitational pull gets stronger (its mass is the same, but its a smaller 'object' ), so it keeps sucking itself in, so to speak. so, obviously, things that go by it sorta get sucked in to, to put it simply.

am i far wrong?
 
Actually that is a theory. One of the most pausible, but still a theory. They do not know for sure. If they are correct sending in a probe would not help because the information could not get back out. Even light can not escape its pull.

I think.......
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  • #11
</span><table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1"><tr><td>Quote </td></tr><tr><td id="QUOTE">no one really knows what a black hole is. All people know right now is that it sucks up anything in its path and it dissapears forever, it just turns into nothing... I heard there is one not too far away from the milky way [/QUOTE]<span id='postcolor'>

There is a theory that all large galaxies have a super-massive blackhole in their centers (the milkly way supposedly has one).

Not only that, but black holes DON'T suck in everything...they actually expell large amounts of energy and particles in "jets" from their poles....interesting stuff...
 
  • #12
</span><table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1"><tr><td>Quote (Dyflam @ July 29 2003,07:12)</td></tr><tr><td id="QUOTE">Let me shed some light on black holes  
smile.gif
:

Black holes for dummies...[/QUOTE]<span id='postcolor'>
***stares endlessly at information, completely absorbed, drool dripping from her mouth***
 
  • #13
I love stuff like that! Astronomy is fascinating. That's definitely a red-letter event. Wish I had a telescope. But even binoculars can help. Another favorite is Perseids meteor shower in August.
smile.gif
Perseids and Mars at the same tme would be awsome.
 
  • #14
If enough of you were local I would offer to have a Star-b-que. But, I don't think all that many of you live in Northern California.

I might even be able to get ahold of the might whizzer..the gas powered blender.

Chris
 
  • #15
This past January, we (Central Florida) had a meteor shower at about 12 : 00 or so A.M. one night... I was waiting for it anyway, since I saw stuff about it on the news. Dang... I was standing out in the driveway, leaning against the truck, all bundled up. It was freakin' COLD!!!! Yeah, it's Florida, but it was still 30 degrees Farenheit. My teeth were chattering so hard, my whole head was vibrating, which made my veiw of the meteorites a little... bumpy.
 
  • #16
</span><table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1"><tr><td>Quote (TerraX @ July 29 2003,2:03)</td></tr><tr><td id="QUOTE">If enough of you were local I would offer to have a Star-b-que.  But, I don't think all that many of you live in Northern California.

I might even be able to get ahold of the might whizzer..the gas powered blender.

Chris[/QUOTE]<span id='postcolor'>
Works for me.... Sac is only 2 hours drive from here.
smile.gif


Steve
 
  • #17
Terrax,
there are over 5 people less than 2 hours away from you!
alien.gif
 
  • #18
Well..let the McParty begin.

I suppose we should scout a location that might be a little more central that doesn't have light pollution quite so bad. The view from Sacramento can be pretty pathetic. Perhaps we can meet at another star party. There are normally ten to twenty scopes at an event. This makes it a little more fun as people will be hunting other objects besides Mars.

Let me do a little research and see if we can't find something suitable. If you have some suggestions, I'm listening.

Cheers!
Chris
 
  • #19
</span><table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1"><tr><td>Quote (TerraX @ July 29 2003,4:46)</td></tr><tr><td id="QUOTE">I suppose we should scout a location that might be a little more central that doesn't have light pollution quite so bad. The view from Sacramento can be pretty pathetic.[/QUOTE]<span id='postcolor'>
I know what you mean about the light pollution
sad.gif
most nights I'm glad I can even see the moon.. let alone stars.. or anything cool like meteors.

Steve
 
  • #20
Here in Tucson AZ we have Kit Peak and other big space watching things, which basically have laws about light polution. For example, those bright halogen lights half to face right down to the ground not even out a little bit from the building. And almost all of our lights in parking lots and allong the roads are those ones than shine orange. Then you just buy a filter to filter out the oarnge and you are all set!
 
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