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A trusted buddy sent me this but I haven't personally checked it out yet.
I'll check tonight during my 1:00AM or 3:00AM or 5:00Am or 7:00AM pee breaks...
We have any astronomers in our group?
Dean-O saw the last one from his mountaintop home and said it was pretty cool!




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 27 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

Dave that's cool....you're not pulling our leg are you?

DJ

I think they might mean Mars -- at 75-power magnification -- will look as large as the full moon looks to the naked eye.

For real:

http://www.space.com/spacewatch/050819_mars_guide.html



DSKYZD

Dave I think someone has pulled your leg about the size.....

DJ

How big?

On Oct. 29, Mars' apparent disk diameter will be equal to 20.2 arc seconds.

To get an idea of how large this will appear in your telescope, Jupiter currently appears about 32 arc seconds across. So, if you train your telescope on Jupiter during this week, keep in mind that Mars' disk will appear more than one-third smaller than that when it comes closest to Earth near the end of October.

Another way to gauge how large this is would be to take a look at the Moon with a telescope and look at the brilliant rayed crater Tycho, probably the most prominent on the Moon's surface. At its best, Mars should appear less than half the apparent size of Tycho (just the crater itself . . . not its rays).

While all this may sound small, keep in mind that this is still an atypically large size for Mars. In fact, from Oct. 23 through Nov. 5, Mars' apparent size will be equal to, or slightly exceed 20 arc seconds; larger than it will appear at any time until late June of 2018.

Yeah, bugger!

Mars will look as large as the full moon to the naked eye.

I was told this by someone as well, and even without any great scientific knowledge knew it couldn't be true.

If that ever happened it would be the event of a lifetime for real.... the somewhat larger Mars this month will be cool, for astronomers, but probably not too exciting for the rest of us.

I will go out and look though!

Our moon (or Mars) may appear to be "bigger" (especially to the naked eye), if and when one or the other is viewed in relationship to the horizon. Our moon in particular, appears to be BIGGER STILL, if said horizon has silhouettes of trees and/or mountain ranges in the foreground for the mind's eye to juxtapose the images.

There's some kind of term used to describe the above phenomena.

(I'd rather a smaller Almond Joy to a Mars anyday.....)

From: http://unmuseum.mus.pa.us/exmoon.htm

"Ever notice that the moon seems to appear bigger when it is just above the horizon? Often the explanation given for this is simply "the moon looks bigger because it is near the horizon." This seems unsatisfying. What's the scientific reason?

Well, the reason is an optical illusion called the Ponzo Illusion. The illusion is named after Mario Ponzo who first demonstrated it in 1913. The Ponzo Illusion shows that sometimes our mind determines the size of an object based on the background behind it."

Speaking of the moon, check out these moon shots taken by a professional photographer friend of mine:

http://www.pronaturephotos.com/Tiger/Moonrise.htm


Be sure to click the full size image option. (Canon 500mm f4 lens with 2X
extender.) Cool, eh?

T.

(Pic's of full moons...)
I used-ta think I could take pictures, one of these actually made it's way to the California State Fair to be among those in the "Best of Show" display:

http://r1150r.smugmug.com/photos/32905801-L.jpg

http://r1150r.smugmug.com/photos/32905803-L.jpg

http://r1150r.smugmug.com/photos/32905802-L.jpg

http://r1150r.smugmug.com/photos/32905788-L.jpg

http://r1150r.smugmug.com/photos/32905797-L.jpg

[quote="Pat
I used-ta think I could take pictures[/quote]

You used-ta be right. Beautiful shots.

Those are nice pictures Pat!

I love the moon.

Nice pics Pat...and toner87's friends pic with the three trees in front of the full moon is a ripper!

DJ

Well guys, I am going outside tonite and take a look see.....if I can stay up that late...that is. The full moon lately has been incredably bright lately.

Great shots Pat!
Try to get one with Mars the same size as the moon so I can show Lance he's not so smart...

I cheated......

In a couple instances I used a whole roll of film taking pictures of the moon with a Canon 100-300 coupled with a 1.4x. I re-inserted the roll of film into my camera, with no idea where the moon(s) would end up on the resulting double exposed images.

The shot I took in Sedona ("Best of Show") was just a matter of shooting the moon with a long lens, not advancing the film, then shooting the red mountains with a wide angle. The same technique was used for the Lodi Arch.

When I learned that only 1% of 10% of the really REALLY good photographers could actually make a living at it, I decided to keep my day (night) job as a Prison Guard.

Thanks guys,
but this thread was about Mars, wasn't it.....





(i'm always think'n "it's about me")

DUDES ,the info recieved on this board is endless

George W. is planning on getting us to the moon again by 2020, as a stepping stone to Mars.
http://www.cnn.com/2004/TECH/space/01/14/bush.space/

I'll just wait for the closeup pictures that come from that.

They're bringing George Washington back?!
Oh...you must mean Dubya...