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Posts: 5874
| Never again in your (or my) lifetime will the Red Planet be so spectacular.
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.
Anybody got a telescope they can bring to the Sabaskong Bay outing? Should be awesome up there! |
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Posts: 1137
Location: Holly, MI | Shep, My 8 yr old has already pointed it out to me. He loves the astronomy stuff and reads quite a bit about it. Fun having your little kid (actually he is my oldest of 4 boys) teach you stuff. Alot of what he tells me I know but don't let on so he can explain it in more detail. Makes him want to learn more.
He caught his first Musky last saturday. It was a 28 incher but you would have thought it was a 50 by the attitude he had. It didn't help that he got the only fish in hte boat that evening. I'll post a pic when I get it back.
Thanks for the sky info.
-lobi |
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Location: Woodstock, IL | I'll be heading to Vilas County on 8/27 and will be sure to do some night fishing to see it! |
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Location: Washington, PA | I wonder what affect this will have on old esox? |
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Posts: 1023
Location: Lafayette, IN | Makes you wonder if ole' Joe Bucher is modifying his charts......... |
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Posts: 20281
Location: oswego, il | Thanks for the info shep. Never pointed my telescope in the sky, I just might try that out! |
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Posts: 229
Location: Willoughby, Ohio | I just hope you don't spend all night looking at Uranus....................;) |
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Posts: 3928
| ah ha! Monday evening I was on a Northern WI lake from about 8:00pm until 2:00am. Very clear skys that night. Mars was very easy to spot, especilly after the moon set. I figured I was looking at a planet. |
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