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Is it too late to see Mars?



 
 
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  #1  
Old August 31st 03, 05:05 AM
Chris Mitchell
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Default Is it too late to see Mars?

I live in South East England, is it too late for me to see Mars with the
naked eye?

If not when and where should I look?

TIA.

--
Regards.

Chris.
Please remove MAPSON (NOSPAM backwards) to reply to me by email.


  #2  
Old August 31st 03, 09:51 AM
Roger Hamlett
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"Chris Mitchell" wrote in message
...
I live in South East England, is it too late for me to see Mars with the
naked eye?

If not when and where should I look?

TIA.

Not too late. It'll be visible for several months.
Depends on the time of night. It is now rising soon after dusk, in the ESE.
By about 2pm, it gets to due south. If you take your 'clenched fist' at arms
length as a 'ruler', it should be about two and a half 'fists' above your
southern horizon at this time.

Best Wishes




  #3  
Old August 31st 03, 10:15 AM
Jonathan Silverlight
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In message , Roger
Hamlett writes

"Chris Mitchell" wrote in message
...
I live in South East England, is it too late for me to see Mars with the
naked eye?

If not when and where should I look?

TIA.

Not too late. It'll be visible for several months.
Depends on the time of night. It is now rising soon after dusk, in the ESE.
By about 2pm, it gets to due south.


Shouldn't that be 1 am, BST (midnight GMT)? Opposition was last month,
when it was due south at local midnight.
But Mars is now so bright you can't possibly miss it. The only thing
brighter in the night sky is the Moon, which will be full and nearby on
September 10.
--
"Forty millions of miles it was from us, more than forty millions of miles of
void"
  #4  
Old August 31st 03, 10:39 AM
steve@nospam-[roteus.demon.co.uk
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On Sun, 31 Aug 2003 04:05:00 +0000 (UTC), "Chris Mitchell"
wrote:

I live in South East England, is it too late for me to see Mars with the
naked eye?



I live in South east england too, and should see Mars with the naked
eye till about the end of Dec, and with a scope till about mar/apr
2004
Its the brightest object in the night sky (apart from the moon) and
its in the South East, best times to view are from 23:00 (very low on
the horizon) until about 02:30 AM when its fairly high in the sky.

There is no moon in the southern sky for the next week or so, so Mars
really is the brightest object you can see.

If you know what direction south/ south east is, look in that
direction at about 23:00 tonight make a fist hold it out at arms
length, then put another fist on top of it, and the bright light
somewhere around the top of your second fist is Mars.


--
---
The two most abundant elements in the universe are Hydrogen and stupidity.
Why is the ratio of Hydrogen to Stupidity less in usenet than anywhere else in the universe?
  #5  
Old August 31st 03, 11:43 AM
Roger Hamlett
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"Jonathan Silverlight" wrote in message
...
In message , Roger
Hamlett writes

"Chris Mitchell" wrote in message
...
I live in South East England, is it too late for me to see Mars with

the
naked eye?

If not when and where should I look?

TIA.

Not too late. It'll be visible for several months.
Depends on the time of night. It is now rising soon after dusk, in the

ESE.
By about 2pm, it gets to due south.


Shouldn't that be 1 am, BST (midnight GMT)? Opposition was last month,
when it was due south at local midnight.
But Mars is now so bright you can't possibly miss it. The only thing
brighter in the night sky is the Moon, which will be full and nearby on
September 10.

Yes. I put pm in by mistake, I have been shooting a lot of solar images
recently...
Just checked 12:54am local time.

Best Wishes



  #6  
Old August 31st 03, 12:18 PM
Ron Miller
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Default

You can see Mars any time it is above the horizon at night.

RM

"Roger Hamlett" wrote in message
...

"Chris Mitchell" wrote in message
...
I live in South East England, is it too late for me to see Mars with the
naked eye?

If not when and where should I look?

TIA.

Not too late. It'll be visible for several months.
Depends on the time of night. It is now rising soon after dusk, in the

ESE.
By about 2pm, it gets to due south. If you take your 'clenched fist' at

arms
length as a 'ruler', it should be about two and a half 'fists' above your
southern horizon at this time.

Best Wishes






  #7  
Old September 1st 03, 07:09 PM
G=EMC^2 Glazier
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Default

Ron Seems Mars being three times closer cuts time our probes going to
Mars,but does being three times closer make viewing all that much better
for the Hubble? Has to help,but Mars is not that far away when the
Hubble can see 13 billion miles away. What is a few 35 million miles one
way or the other? Bert

  #8  
Old September 1st 03, 07:19 PM
David Knisely
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Bert posted:

Seems Mars being three times closer cuts time our probes going to
Mars,but does being three times closer make viewing all that much better
for the Hubble?


Yes, it does. The resolution of the images taken last week exceeds that of
any previous HST image of Mars. Finer details which were not well shown in
images from previous oppositions are now visible, such as the sides of some of
the canyons and numerous craters.

Has to help,but Mars is not that far away when the
Hubble can see 13 billion miles away. What is a few 35 million miles one
way or the other?


13 billion *miles*?? I can see one heck of a lot farther away than that with
my unaided eye on a dark night! I can see over 3 billion *light years* with
my telescope (quasar 3C-273).
--
David W. Knisely
Prairie Astronomy Club:
http://www.prairieastronomyclub.org
Hyde Memorial Observatory: http://www.hydeobservatory.info/

**********************************************
* Attend the 10th Annual NEBRASKA STAR PARTY *
* July 27-Aug. 1st, 2003, Merritt Reservoir *
* http://www.NebraskaStarParty.org *
**********************************************


 




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