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Me no astronomer, Not sure if it is true, but just got an email about it, so if it is true, will be an very interesting photo opportunity, if the MARS is really as big as FULL MOON... get your 200-400VR ready guys ...

MARS SPECTACULAR ~

The Red Planet is about to be spectacular! This month & next The Earth will be catching up with Mars in an encounter that will soon culminate in the closest approach between the two planets in our recorded history.

The next time Mars may come this close is in 2287. Due to the way Jupiter's gravity tugs on Mars & perturbs its orbit, astronomers can only be certain Mars has NOT come this close to Earth in the last 5,000 years - and 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 & will be (next to the moon) the brightest object in the night sky. It will attain a magnitude of -2.9 & 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. It will be easy to spot. At the beginning of August it will rise in the east at 10pm & reach its azimuth at about 3am. By the end of August when the two planets are closest - Mars will rise at nightfall & reach its highest point in the sky at 12:30am. 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 & brighter throughout the month.

gMaster wrote:Me no astronomer, Not sure if it is true, but just got an email about it, so if it is true, will be an very interesting photo opportunity, if the MARS is really as big as FULL MOON... get your 200-400VR ready guys ...

See this link.

gMaster wrote:....Mars will look as large as the full moon to the naked eye....

They just went a bit too far with this statement.

yea, its a pile of crap... Mars comes closest every 15 or 17 years, and you would be hard pressed to tell the difference between 2003 and 1988. It comes close at intervals of just over 2 years as Earth overtakes it, and this year is a fairly average distance encounter, actually a bit closer than the long term average, but nothing special. The 15/17 year period of closest approaches is when Earth overtakes Mars when Mars is near its perihelion (closest point to the sun), thse close approaches occur in August.
Its rising late evenings now, and is high up in the north as morning twilight starts, its the brightest star-like object in that part of the sky, and is orange in colour.
If you have a look with a decent telescope, you can see the South Polar Cap quite well at the moment.

Gordon

Gordon,

Thanx for the clarification on this. It's greatly appreciated.

It's good to have an expert's comments.

cricketfan wrote:It's good to have an expert's comments.

It is indeed, thanks Gordon.

I read this thread backwards so maybe that helped, but isn't the article saying that if you view mars through a 75x Telescope, it will appear as large as a full-moon does, when looking at the moon with the naked eye?

75x Telescope + Mars = Naked eye + Full Moon?

I could be wrong of course, that's just how I read the article.

PlatinumWeaver wrote:I read this thread backwards so maybe that helped, but isn't the article saying that if you view mars through a 75x Telescope, it will appear as large as a full-moon does, when looking at the moon with the naked eye?

75x Telescope + Mars = Naked eye + Full Moon?

I could be wrong of course, that's just how I read the article.

Dean your interpretation is correct, but the mail item is carefully worded so people think they'll both be the same size to the naked eye.

Here's a NASA link and one on the Snopes urban legend site about the email. Interestingly this is recycled from August 2003 and all that's been changed is the year. The nearest Mars gets this year is 20% further away than it was in August 2003 (when it was 35 million miles from us) and that actually happens in OCTOBER. BTW - I've received this email from two friends in the last 24 hours and one of my more gullible workmates forwarded this today to every member of staff

Perhaps we could market some special D70Users tinfoil hats to protect the wearer against mars germs while it is closer to earth.

that's funny, the same text came through as a press release here at the paper just a day or two ago.