Remember the other thread where I commented the approximation of Mars & Earth?
Well, seems like I got some things wrong. The max approximation will happen on August 27th, and I heard Mars will seem as big as the moon by then (this is getting yet more Lavos’ish).
Not likely. Mars just seems like an extra bright star right now, I doubt it will get any larger to the naked eye. And Mars would HAVE to be a lot closer, despite it’s size. Don’t expect a moon-like Mars.
Somewhere along the way somebody left out a small but significant bit of information. The bit about Mars being brightest on Aug 27 is correct. The part about Mars appearing as large as the moon would be correct if you include the words “when viewed in 10x magnification”. Of course, that may be wrong. It might be 25x but I can’t check me email right now, campus connection is really slow on Yahoo during the day.
On the 27th, it’s just supposed to be the brightest thing in the night sky except for the moon. I don’t know anything about how big it’s supposed to look.
Never again in your 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.
On August 27, Mars will come 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. <B>At a modest 75-power magnification Mars will look as large as the full moon to the naked eye.</B> 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.
Originally posted by demigod <B>At a modest 75-power magnification Mars will look as large as the full moon to the naked eye.</B>
I think someone probably read this part and told another someone, who told someone else, who told to another person… and you know, news always get distorted this way and when it got to me they said Mars would be as big as the Moon. God damm the tendency humans have to enlarge things when they talk about them.
I copied and pasted directly from the email I received. It is modest, compared to the telescopes in observatories. Seriously though, when it says modest, consider that there are telescopes you can buy in a hobby shop that probably have 250x magnification or maybe more if you’re willing to spend serious cash. A 75x magnification telescope would be… only a couple hundred bucks (I’m completely guessing)… but MUCH less anyway, that’s the point.