Mars looming large in evening sky

AP ^ | 8/12/03

[Mr. Mojo]

LOS ANGELES - The wandering of the planets brings Mars closer to Earth this month than at any time in nearly 60,000 years. It will be a last-chance proposition for all alive today: Mars won't be as close again until Aug. 28, 2287.

Just 34.6 million miles of space will separate the two planets on Aug. 27. If that doesn't sound close, Mars was five times as distant just six months ago.

Already, Mars has begun to loom large in the late evening sky, its rusty twinkle apparent in the southeast. For the next several weeks the fourth rock from the sun should shine brighter than any other celestial body — save the moon and Venus.

"Mars you can't miss, it's bright and red," said Myles Standish, an astronomer at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory.

Aldo Vitagliano, of the University of Naples in Italy, calculated that Mars hasn't had as close a brush with Earth since Sept. 12, 57617 B.C., when Neanderthals ruled but modern man had begun to make inroads.

J. Kelly Beatty, executive editor of Sky & Telescope, said he plans to be gazing skyward to bathe in the "Marslight" during the closest approach — 5:51 a.m. EDT on Aug. 27.

The Red Planet still will seem small: To the naked eye, Mars will have the apparent diameter of a penny seen from 500 feet away. Even though Mars is twice the size of the moon, it will be 145 times as distant.

With binoculars, or better yet a telescope, observers can start to pick out details on the planet's surface. The view from even a modest telescope should reveal the planet's southern ice cap, Beatty said.

Next week, astronomers will send radio waves from antennas on Earth that will bounce off Mars to study the terrain where one of the two NASA (news - web sites) rovers is targeted to land in January. The close proximity will improve the resolution of the radar images, said Albert Haldemann, deputy project scientist for the rover mission.

Planetariums around the world plan Mars-gazing parties beginning the evening of Aug. 26, and the Hubble Space Telescope (news - web sites) is expected to take a close-approach portrait of Mars.

[Mr. Mojo]

I checked out Mars last night (for the first time since this historic approach) and was expecting to see what I usually see when checking out the red planet, but a little brighter. Well, I was surprised. It looked far bigger and brighter than I expected ....about as bright as Venus, but its distinctive red glow making it all the more impressive. To me, it was more impressive looking at it with the naked eye rather than with binoculars or a telescope, probably because using those instruments doesn't allow one to compare it with other celestial objects at a single glance.

[mdittmar]

Can see it from where I sit,a bright orange dot directly southeast from my location in central WA.(The Great Northwest)

[Mr. Mojo]

I'm probably around 200 miles directly to the west of you, but my view of the SE is obscured by trees, so I have to walk down to the beach to see it.

[Dialup Llama]

On other close approaches, I remember Mars being much redder. At times, Mars looks a bit like Venus in its color. Is there something about the Martian icecap or the angle of the planet's tilt that makes appear less red this time?

[Centurion2000]

I believe the south polar region is what's showing. Haven't broken out the scopes yet but it is beautiful in the sky

[quietolong]

OK here’s a question for some one.
On the 27th. at 5:51 a.m. EDT Mars will be at its closest.
What point on the earth will be the closest to Mars?

[Atchafalaya]

Mars real, Gore loomed.

[oceanperch]

mars was by the moon the other night.

Is it still. Walked out (central Or. Coast) and looked all around no moon one bright star but not like the Mars I saw the other night.

Saw a sattalite. And a nice shooter.

No moon and no Mars.

[Davea]

Maybe if you post your question here these guys might know. It's the Mars Society board...http://www.newmars.com/cgi-bin/ikonboard/ikonboard.cgi

[AGreatPer]

Too busy to look during this time. Will wait for the next time it is close.

[LibWhacker]

Yes, I agree. Not nearly as red as usual. Not sure what's going on (massive dust storm, perhaps?). Was looking at it almost all night last night with our 8" Dob but the only detail I could make out was the ice cap.

If anyone else has a relatively small scope and is not sure which side of the planet they're looking at, Sky & Telescope has a little JAVA app called Mars Profiler that'll show you what you should be seeing for any time, date and telescope type here.

[tubebender]

Look later in the South. It was clear around 1 AM here and I had a good view...

[hole_n_one]

[oceanperch]

OK Thanks. Is there a moon tonight that would help as it was to the left of it the other night.

[Dialup Llama]

This is from the sky and telescope website. This seems to be saying that the brightness of Mars makes its color less.

http://skyandtelescope.com/observing/ataglance/article_110_1.asp
"Mars shines in the southeast in evening. With your naked eyes, compare it to much fainter Antares, the orange "Rival of Mars," in the southwest. You'll find them at the same height right after dark. How do their colors compare? When Mars is distant and no brighter than Antares, their colors appear more alike than they do now, though of course Mars has not physically changed; colors appear to wash out in an object that appears very bright to the eye. "

[Mr. Mojo]

colors appear to wash out in an object that appears very bright to the eye.

Interesting. ...thanks.

[Mr. Mojo]

Amazing pic. That looks like an immense canyon on the right/center.

[hole_n_one]

Nasa's Sojouner rover.....

[Mr. Mojo]

Yeah, that's a famous one. It'll be a helluva job to terraform that place, but one day it's going to happen.

[NotJustAnotherPrettyFace]

We got out the 8" Celestron my husband owned before he met me the other night, when the sky was clear here. Even with all the "light pollution" (we live in the Chicago suburbs), I could still see the ice cap on Mars.