Heath
28-08-2003, 04:09 PM
The most gazed-at object in the sky this week won't be a star. It's the planet Mars.
When Mars and Earth line up on the same side of the Sun on Wednesday, the Red Planet will be the closest to Earth it has been in 60,000 years, astronomers say.
On a clear night, even with the naked eye, stargazers can see the blazing object with a reddish hue in the eastern sky until Oct. 8, said Joe Rao, a meteorologist and lecturer at the Hayden Planetarium at the Rose Center for Earth and Space in Manhattan.
Astronomers say the best time to view the event will be from 8 p.m Wednesday until dawn Friday. Mars will appear at its highest in the eastern sky Wednesday night, then travel into the south about midnight and blaze in the southwestern sky around dawn.
At its closest Mars, which normally ranges from about 35 million to 65 million miles from Earth, will be only 34.65 million miles away. It will not get that close again until 2287.
Grab the kids & show them something that will happen once in their lifetime.
At the moment we have clear skys here in QLD and Mars is shining bright
When Mars and Earth line up on the same side of the Sun on Wednesday, the Red Planet will be the closest to Earth it has been in 60,000 years, astronomers say.
On a clear night, even with the naked eye, stargazers can see the blazing object with a reddish hue in the eastern sky until Oct. 8, said Joe Rao, a meteorologist and lecturer at the Hayden Planetarium at the Rose Center for Earth and Space in Manhattan.
Astronomers say the best time to view the event will be from 8 p.m Wednesday until dawn Friday. Mars will appear at its highest in the eastern sky Wednesday night, then travel into the south about midnight and blaze in the southwestern sky around dawn.
At its closest Mars, which normally ranges from about 35 million to 65 million miles from Earth, will be only 34.65 million miles away. It will not get that close again until 2287.
Grab the kids & show them something that will happen once in their lifetime.
At the moment we have clear skys here in QLD and Mars is shining bright