I just recieved this in my inbox & thought it was pretty cool! course you'll probably have to have a big ZOOOOOOOOOOOOM lens like Tedz to capture it! :D Subject: See Mars in August Once In A Lifetime Opportunity!!! Never again in our lifetime will the Red Planet be so spectacular. This month and next, Earth is catching up with Mars, an encounter that will culminate in the closest approach between the two planets in recorded history. 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. The encounter will culminate on August 27th when Mars comes to within 34,649,589 miles 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 Mars will rise in the east at 10 p.m. and reach its azimuth at about 3 a.m. But 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 12:30 a.m. So mark your calendar at the beginning of August to see Mars grow progressively brighter and brighter throughout the month. Share this knowledge with everyone and especially the children. No one alive today will see this again.

Sounds awesome......thanks for the head up Cindy!

Thanx for telling everyone about My Zoooooooooooooooooooom Lens....jeeeeez...I didn't know You were a Kiss and Tell :(

I'm pretty sure Cam will get excited over this. I hope you skywatchers post some pics! :-) (*

It should be interesting (if Scotland's skies stay clear for a change), but I doubt I'll be able to photograph anything more than a small dot. The above moon image is full frame on my Canon 10D with 400mm lens and 2x adapter which gives a 35mm film equivalent of 1280mm. Now the moon is somewhere around 44 minutes of arc if memory serves, so Mars would be 100 times smaller (or about 15 pixels across). Still worth a shot, and even a bright red dot in a suitable sky scape should look interesting. -- Mark

have been observing the approach for several months and noticing the gradual increase in size and brightness, can't wait till the 27th! I am also an amateur astronomer (too many hobbies, too little time) and this is a real cool event. If only people looked up into the night sky more often......thanks for the heads up! Jack

Ok, no idea where I got 44' from. Looked it up and the moon is 31'05" on average which makes Mars 1/75th the size, but that's still only 20 pix. Doesn't mean I'm not going to try though! -- Mark

Yeah, I'll have to get out the telescope. I'm sure the fanatics will think "AAAAA the aliens are comming!!!" =:-) Bsteph

coming? I thought they were already....never mind.....

Did someone yank My Space Umbilical Cord? Huh?

Yea, that is so interesting to me too. I cannot wait to see it. I hope to snap off a shot worthy enough and I will definitely try!!! Space is so wicked interesting!!! You ever check out this site? http://hubblesite.org/newscenter/ and this other one explains the mars thing http://www.carpecaelum.com/marobs.htm if you got some time, it's worth a glance!!

hey, thanks Chris! i've seen the hubblesite but it's been awhile since i've visited it & i'll go take a look see at the other use to love going to the planetariums when i was young -then i lived in the city now i have a wonderful view of the night sky here in the country & find myself ...staring off into space quite often @Tedz... yank :] zooooooooooooooooooooooooom!

sigh ;0

Around the Detroit area, the city has a lot of light and a thin layer of clouds is enough to block out most of the stars. But I could see Mars shining through. It was up pretty high and to the south east for those that don't know coordinates very well. It was like a gigantic orange looking star. Amazing! To think the moon is about 275,000 miles and Mars is 1/3 the distance of the sun away around 34,000,000 and we'll be able to see it with a modest pair of binoculars by the end of the month and it will appear the size of a full moon?! I have to find a telescope I can take pictures through! Heard of any?