MARS SPECTACULAR!

The Red Planet is about to be spectacular! This month and next, Earth is catching up with Mars in 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 before it happens again.

The encounter will culminate on August 27th when Mars comes to within 34,649,589 miles of Earth 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 the naked eye. Mars will be easy to spot. At the beginning of August it will rise in the east at 10p.m. and
reach its azimuth at about 3 a.m.

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 12:30a.m. 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 and brighter throughout the month.

the one quote about Mars being the size of the full moon is wrong. back in 03 when Mars was the closest in the past 80,000 it looked like a red star. thru a telescope it was round. if you get a strong enough scope it may be that big. but it wont be that big with the nekkid eye.

rickheel Wrote:The encounter will culminate on August 27th when Mars comes to within 34,649,589 miles of Earth 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.

The moon is 1/2 degree. One degree = 60 arcminutes. So, it's 30 arcminutes. There are 60 arcseconds in an arcminute... so the moon is 1800 arcseconds wide. Mars is going to be 25.... not quite the same size. Also, Venus is regularly at a magnitude of -4, so I'm not buying the "brightest object in the sky" either.

If you want to go look for something, try looking for a thin crescent moon with Saturn and Venus (and maybe Mercury if you have a clear west horizon) after sunset tonight:



By the end of the month, it will be spectacular. On the evening of the 25th, Saturn will be within 1° of Venus, and on the 27th, Venus and Mercury will be 0.1° apart.

After you see Mercury, consider this... Nicholas Copernicus, the great astronomer who first proposed the Sun-centered solar system, is reported to have never seen Mercury in his life.