 |
 | Home | Contact Us | FAQ | Search & Site Map | Link to Us |
 | Sign In | Join | Other 45 Sites in Network |
| PhotoKB HomeDiscussion Groups Digital Photography Digital PhotoDSLR CamerasZLR CamerasPoint & Shoot CamerasFilm Photography 35 mmLarge FormatMedium formatDarkroomFilm and LabsOther EquipmentPhoto Technique Nature PhotographyPeople PhotographyTechnique GeneralGeneral Photo Topics General TopicsAustralian PhotographyUK PhotographyDirectoryPhoto Clubs |
Photo Forum / Digital Photography / DSLR Cameras / July 2005Looking for the Red Planet
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. Share this with your children and grandchildren. NO ONE ALIVE TODAY WILL EVER SEE THIS AGAIN Vinnie.... Vinnie, it is nice of you to try to pass this on, but..*check* first, before relaying emailed information. That email *was* correct... but it was in 2003. FWIW, Mars is fairly close to us again, but not as close as in 2003, next October (31st). Please forward this back to whoever sent you the email, and try to teach them as well...! > Vinnie, it is nice of you to try to pass this on, but..*check* first, > before relaying emailed information. That email *was* correct... but > it was in 2003. I don't remember this part in 2003: "Mars will look as large as the full moon to the naked eye." Greg GT said: >I don't remember this part in 2003: >>Mars will look as large as the full moon to the naked eye Hmm. Serves me right for skimming...! Ok, I revise my comments. SOME of that email was correct... (O: You would need a pretty awesome telescope in front of that 'naked' eye to get it *that* big.. > GT said: >>I don't remember this part in 2003: [quoted text clipped - 5 lines] > You would need a pretty awesome telescope in front of that 'naked' eye > to get it *that* big.. Plenty of people here with them that big and bigger. ;-) Some of this is bullhockey, the rest two years out of date.. Mars will not reach opposition this year until October; at the time it will be some 13 million miles farther from Earth than it was in its last opposition in 2003. While it is true that no human being has yet seen the Mars opposition of 2005, the same can be said of 'tomorrow'. More at http://www.snopes.com/science/mars.asp > MARS SPECTACULAR! > [quoted text clipped - 33 lines] > > Vinnie.... > MARS SPECTACULAR! > > 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. Try alt.urban.legend! This statement is pure Bullsh*t, Mars will appear as bright as the full moon, not a big as it. It would have to come much closer to appear as large as. I haven't had enough coffee yet to tackle the math to show how close it would need to be to appear as large... >> MARS SPECTACULAR! >> [quoted text clipped - 8 lines] > yet to tackle the math to show how close it would need to be to > appear as large... Due to a couple of badly placed line breaks everyone seems to be reading it wrong. Quote: "At a modest 75-power magnification Mars will look as large as the full moon to the naked eye. " Not that I care whether it is true or not since it happened 2 years ago. -Mike >> MARS SPECTACULAR! >> [quoted text clipped - 7 lines] > closer to appear as large as. I haven't had enough coffee yet to tackle > the math to show how close it would need to be to appear as large... --------- Snip --------- > 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. ------------------------ It might be out of date... but it's poorly formatted! :) Time for some education. Mars can NEVER look as large or be as bright as the full moon, EVER! The largest Mars ever appears is about 26 arc seconds across, which is 1/69th the size of the full Moon. In addition, although it's surface brightness per area can be as bright, because of it's diminutive size, it will never appear as bright. In 2003, Mars was larger (by a couple arc seconds) than it will be during this opposition, but it was lower in the sky for Northern observers owing to it's position on the ecliptic (the line the planets follow). This year, it's higher up and easier to see well in a Telescope. So, in a telescope at 69 power, it will appear as large as the full Moon but most who see it will not see it as such due to physiological factors that effect seeing. Mars does not reach opposition (largest size) until Nov 6. If you want to image Mars as a disc, you need a telescope. Ideal powers for observation will be 100x-250x or the equivalent of a telephoto lens of between 5000mm and 12500mm focal length on 35mm film. The best images of planets current come from Philips Tuocam Pro webcams ($100/ea) attached to telescopes with main optics between 8 and 12" in diameter. Hundreds to thousands of webcam images are then stacked and processed to yield images with high detail. He never said that Rich, go back and read it again, he said with a mere 75 times scope, now pull your head in. Dickhead. > Time for some education. > Mars can NEVER look as large or be as bright > as the full moon, EVER! >He never said that Rich, go back and read it again, he said with a mere 75 >times scope, now pull your head in. Dickhead. > >> Time for some education. >> Mars can NEVER look as large or be as bright >> as the full moon, EVER! Fine. Brightness and magnification have NOTHING to do with each other. -Rich >>He never said that Rich, go back and read it again, he said with a mere 75 >>times scope, now pull your head in. Dickhead. [quoted text clipped - 6 lines] > other. > -Rich OMG, killfile him then, but get over it. Dweeb. >>>He never said that Rich, go back and read it again, he said with a mere 75 >>>times scope, now pull your head in. Dickhead. [quoted text clipped - 8 lines] > >OMG, killfile him then, but get over it. Dweeb. Intellectual midget. -Rich > Intellectual midget. Yet he has reading comprehension skills far in excess of yours. >> Intellectual midget. > > Yet he has reading comprehension skills far in excess of yours. Ha ha ha. Probably not that much but he is a dweeb none the less and a total intellectual vacuum. |
Reply to this Message |
 Sign In
 Join
 My Latest Posts My Monitored Threads My Blog My Photo Gallery My Profile My Homepage Start New Thread Enable EMail Alerts Rate this Thread
|
©2009 Advenet LLC Privacy Policy - Terms of Use
This website includes both content owned or controlled by Advenet as well as content owned or controlled by third parties.