Mars this summer

Sev

I just thought that its worth noting that mars is making its closest approach this summer that it has in some time. In how long? 70,000 years!

As Belgian astronomers Edwin Goffin and Jean Meeus wrote long ago, "In August, 2003, Mars will come closer to Earth than at any time in the last several thousand years, and an even slightly closer approach will take place in the year 2287"

Gonna be the one time in your lifetime that mars will ever be this close, so I figure you wouldnt want to miss it. Though theres still another couple of months to wait.

http://skyandtelescope.com/observing/objects/planets/article_970_1.asp

Horsefumbler

will we be like able to see it at night or anything?

Sev

Yeah, it will take centre stage in the sky at opposition. At nearly magnitude -3 it will be brighter than any other star. You'll also notice the reddish colour in it too. But you'll still need a telescope to make out the disc of the planet.

It isnt the most impressive sight in a telescope, cos its quite small in apparent diameter. But its the one time you'll ever get to see it so clearly in your lifetime anyway. I guess you'll get to appreciate the size of the sun, when that mars still only appears as a tiny dot even tho its 3 times closer.

The problem is it wont get very high in the night sky. Unlike Jupiter and Saturn this and last year that get near the zenith, it will be closer to the horizon, whch means that you'll have to look through more shimmering atmosphere to see it. Which is bad news, cos no matter how powerful your telescope is, you'll see sfa if the 'seeing' isnt good, and the air is dancing and mars is frying in magnified air currents.

Redshift

Yeah, mars is generally pretty unspectacular at the best of times apart from the ice caps if you can get your hands on a scope powerful enough to resolve them. It will be fairly noticeable in the night sky as it gets closer.

Ryan

Redshift

Here is a nice simple explanation of the event with diagrams and pictures to help you locate mars in the night sky. http://www.space.com/spacewatch/mars_preview_021108.html

Enjoy
Ryan