Zyca

Be prepared for the closest view of Mars in more than 50,000 years. Come August 27, Mars will be the third brightest object in the sky (after the Moon and Venus). Contrary to rumour mills, Mars won’t be as visible to the naked eye as the Moon. The highest magnitudes of Moon and Venus are -12.7 and -4.0 respectively (The more negative the magnitude, the brighter the object). Mars will be only -2.9 on August 27. However, it is said that with the help of a 75-magnitude telescope, the red planet will appear as large as the moon, an event worth seeing (and hence the reason to buy my fancy telescope in Toronto when I’m out there). Mars has had its share of urban legends, the most famous being The Other Face. Know about the position of Mars here. Check this link for all activities related to Mars in 2003. You may also want to know more about perihelic oppositions.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, August 13th, 2003 at 3:24 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.