http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2005/22sep_doublemars.htm

Mars Doubles in Brightness
NASA Science News
September 22, 2005

The red planet, already intense, is about to get much brighter.


September 22, 2005: Ready to be amazed?

Step outside tonight around midnight and look east. About halfway up
the
sky you'll see the planet Mars. It looks like an intense red star, the
brightest light in the midnight sky other than the Moon.

Here's the amazing part: Between now and the end of October, Mars,
already so bright, will double in brightness again. Imagine that.

Mars is getting brighter for the simple reason that it's getting
closer.
Earth and Mars have been converging for months and on Oct. 30th at 0319
Universal Time, the two worlds will be just 69 million kilometers
apart - the closest approach of Mars and Earth for the next 13 years.

The timing is practically perfect for Halloween. Millions of kids and
their parents will be outdoors after dark trick-or-treating on Oct
31st.
Mars will rise at sundown that night, bright enough to be seen even
from
urban-lit cities. Furthermore, purists insist, Mars isn't really red,
it's pumpkin-colored. Could it get any better?

Oh, yes.

In 2003, the last time Earth and Mars converged, Mars was bright, but
it
was also low, never climbing more than about 34 degrees above the
horizon as
seen from North America and Europe. In 2005, on the other hand, Mars is
going be much higher in the sky: about 66 degrees.

This is good news for people with backyard telescopes, because planets
high in the sky look crisp and clear. Lower down, near the horizon
where
the air is thick, they become murky and indistinct. Mars in 2005 is
nicely placed for detailed, high-magnification viewing.

Already backyard astronomers are seeing some extraordinary things -
like the "purple haze." Winter is beginning at the Martian north pole,
and icy-blue clouds are gathering there. The vast cloud bank is
easily seen through 10-inch and larger telescopes, purple enough to
remind some observers of Jimi Hendrix. The view will only improve as
Oct. 30th approaches.

NASA is taking advantage of the close encounter to send a robot-ship to
Mars. Named Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, it left Earth in August
carrying, among other things, the biggest camera ever sent to another
planet. The High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment, or "HiRISE",
weighs 145 lbs (on Earth); its primary optical mirror is a half-meter
wide; and it can take pictures with 1200 megapixels of digital
resolution. From Mars orbit, this monster camera can see things as
small as a dishwasher. It's due to arrive in March 2006 to begin
mapping Mars in exquisite detail for explorers of the future.

By the time the orbiter reaches Mars it will have traveled more than
400
million km. You only need to go as far as your backyard. Look up, and
be
amazed.

david.williams

-> Mars is getting brighter for the simple reason that it's getting
-> closer.

Not only that. Its phase is increasing, too. When Mars is at
opposition, on Oct 30, it will be almost "opposite" the sun in the sky.
The sun, Earth, and Mars will be almost in a straight line (not quite,
because the two planets' orbits are slightly tilted, with respect to
each other). So the hemisphere of Mars that we can see from Earth will
be the same as the hemisphere that is illuminated by the sun - pretty
much like the moon at Full Moon. But at present, the sun, Earth and
Mars are not in a straight line. We can't see all of the sunlit
hemisphere. It's like the moon at "gibbous" phase, when it's about
three-quarters full. So its brightness is less than it would be if the
phase were full.

dow

chris

Well I think we need to send 8 men and 8 beautiful young women to Mars to
start a new branch of the human race. We need to launch the arc by next
thursday (!) it should have been done last thursday but.... World ends
Friday!

Well many a true word spoke in Jest.

Chris.

jan panteltje

On a sunny day (Fri, 23 Sep 2005 08:05:46 GMT) it happened "Chris"


Do you have a time? Want to set my VCR.