More about Mars...

...to follow up on Sunday's post
about Orion and the red planet.


"Why has Mars gotten so bright and attractive?
It's because Earth and Mars are converging."

"At a distance of about 88 million kilometers (55 million miles), this will be Mars' nearest approach to our planet until the year 2016. But, no, Mars will not now or ever appear as large as the Full Moon, as has been erroneously reported in a widely circulated e-mail hoax.

"According to the mathematical wizard Jean Meeus, Mars will be closest to Earth on December 18 at 11:45 p.m. Universal Time. For the Central Time Zone in the United States, that converts to 5:45 p.m. [8:45 a.m on the 19th here in Korea --Ed.].

"Because of Mars' proximity to Earth, many telescopes will be pointing at the red planet in December and January. Be forewarned: it takes a lot of patience and persistence to find Mars' surface features through a telescope. At times, Earth's atmosphere isn't steady (twinkling stars indicate atmospheric turbulence) and Martian dust storms sometimes obscure the view. Knowing what filters to use on the telescope is also a plus. Looking at Mars is, at best, a tantalizing experience."

I'm reminded of the night in 2003 when several hundred people stood on line at the University of Washington in order to see Mars through some local amateurs' instruments. As I neared the front of the line, two young women who had just taken a look began to walk away. One of them grumbled, "I waited two hours to see a dot?!"

I was a bit annoyed at that comment (and how it might spoil the experience for people who were still waiting), but I can understand how one might feel shortchanged. If you'd never looked through a telescope before, and your diet of astro-imagery only consisted of Hubble pics in the media, then it probably would be disappointing to see Mars appear as big as a grapefruit seed.

But let me tell you, that grapefruit seed had mountains and canyons and vast plains of polar ice, for those who knew where and how to look.