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Apparent Moon-Mars 'collison'



 
 
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  #1  
Old July 17th 03, 07:33 AM
bwhiting
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Default Apparent Moon-Mars 'collison'

Hey, if anyone is still up, look out to the south...if you have clear
skies.
The moon is rapidly closing on Mars....from 42 N Lat,
80 W. longitude, they are currently (0630 GMT) only
0.5 degree apart....I believe Mars gets occulted
by the Moon farther south, in just a few hours from
now....maybe sooner. From our latitude, looks like
the moon will miss by 0.25 degree south of Mars.
FWIW,
Tom W.

  #2  
Old July 17th 03, 08:54 AM
David Nakamoto
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Default Apparent Moon-Mars 'collison'

Hi Tom !

I lucked out. While the Los Angeles area was getting cloudier today, with
a little rain out by the beach, it has cleared up and I was able to image
the
event around 1220am. I've posted my best image at:

http://www.jplrecclubs.caltech.edu/astron/

Enjoy !

Clear and Steady Nights !
--- Dave
--
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Never be afraid of trying something new for the love of it.
Remember... amateurs built the Ark.
Professionals built the Titanic!


----------------------------------------------------------------------

"bwhiting" wrote in message
...
Hey, if anyone is still up, look out to the south...if you have clear
skies.
The moon is rapidly closing on Mars....from 42 N Lat,
80 W. longitude, they are currently (0630 GMT) only
0.5 degree apart....I believe Mars gets occulted
by the Moon farther south, in just a few hours from
now....maybe sooner. From our latitude, looks like
the moon will miss by 0.25 degree south of Mars.
FWIW,
Tom W.



  #3  
Old July 17th 03, 09:02 AM
bwhiting
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Default Apparent Moon-Mars 'collison'

Nice Pict Dave...
that's just the way it looks right now
(0800 GMT) out my back window, due south..
Mars is about 0.2 degree sitting on top
of the waning gibbous moon....Cool (and fairly
rare) sight, even naked-eye.
Thanks for sharing.
Clear Skies,
Tom W

  #4  
Old July 17th 03, 10:54 AM
Tom Hole
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Default Apparent Moon-Mars 'collison'


"bwhiting" wrote in message
...
Hey, if anyone is still up, look out to the south...if you have clear
skies.
The moon is rapidly closing on Mars....from 42 N Lat,
80 W. longitude, they are currently (0630 GMT) only
0.5 degree apart....I believe Mars gets occulted
by the Moon farther south, in just a few hours from
now....maybe sooner. From our latitude, looks like
the moon will miss by 0.25 degree south of Mars.
FWIW,
Tom W.


Tom,

Thank you for posting this message. I had forgotten about this conjunction,
but had set the alarm to get up at 0430 Eeastern time. I got up and decided
not to have a go but just read some messages and go back to bed. I read
your post and immediately went out and got a lifetime view of Mars and Luna.
Here in MD, the closest point of appraoch was only 4 arcminutes, which I was
able to see. I had a wonderful view of Mars and the moon even at 375x (13'
TFOV). Best view was with the my st80 "finder".

So, good thing you posted or I would've missed it. Thanks.

Clear skies,

Tom


  #5  
Old July 17th 03, 12:49 PM
Doogie Hoosier
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Default Apparent Moon-Mars 'collison'

bwhiting wrote in message ...
Hey, if anyone is still up, look out to the south...if you have clear
skies.
The moon is rapidly closing on Mars....from 42 N Lat,
80 W. longitude, they are currently (0630 GMT) only
0.5 degree apart....I believe Mars gets occulted
by the Moon farther south, in just a few hours from
now....maybe sooner. From our latitude, looks like
the moon will miss by 0.25 degree south of Mars.
FWIW,
Tom W.


I watched the moon slide past Mars this morning.

Swoosh...

Yup. It made a swooshin' sound. I heard it.

Sounded just like a jet airplane.

By the way, Astronomy magazine said the moon would pass 0.3 degrees
NORTH of Mars. 'Taint what I saw. The moon might have eventually
moved farther north than Mars, but not while they were close together,
or at the time Astronomy specified, 4:00A.M. My guess is that the
moon was (from its center) about 0.4-0.5 degrees SOUTH of Mars (viewed
from southern Indiana) at closest point.

In a 100x eyepiece I could see Mars and most of the moon. The Martian
disc easily showed the polar cap and some surface features in that
view. I wish I could have photographed it.
  #6  
Old July 17th 03, 12:55 PM
Dave Werner
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Default Apparent Moon-Mars 'collison'

Here's how it looked in Wisconsin...

http://www.photo.net/photodb/photo?p...620951&size=lg

(Canon 10d w/ Tak FS-102)

Good Morning,

Dave Werner


bwhiting wrote:
Hey, if anyone is still up, look out to the south...if you have clear
skies.
The moon is rapidly closing on Mars....from 42 N Lat,
80 W. longitude, they are currently (0630 GMT) only
0.5 degree apart....I believe Mars gets occulted
by the Moon farther south, in just a few hours from
now....maybe sooner. From our latitude, looks like
the moon will miss by 0.25 degree south of Mars.
FWIW,
Tom W.


  #7  
Old July 17th 03, 01:48 PM
bwhiting
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default Apparent Moon-Mars 'collison'

Doogie, check Dave Werner's picture below at:
http://www.photo.net/photodb/photo?photo_id=1620987

I don't think they get much better than that.
Clear Skies,
Tom W.




Doogie Hoosier wrote:
bwhiting wrote in message ...

Hey, if anyone is still up, look out to the south...if you have clear
skies.
The moon is rapidly closing on Mars....from 42 N Lat,
80 W. longitude, they are currently (0630 GMT) only
0.5 degree apart....I believe Mars gets occulted
by the Moon farther south, in just a few hours from
now....maybe sooner. From our latitude, looks like
the moon will miss by 0.25 degree south of Mars.
FWIW,
Tom W.



I watched the moon slide past Mars this morning.

Swoosh...

Yup. It made a swooshin' sound. I heard it.

Sounded just like a jet airplane.

By the way, Astronomy magazine said the moon would pass 0.3 degrees
NORTH of Mars. 'Taint what I saw. The moon might have eventually
moved farther north than Mars, but not while they were close together,
or at the time Astronomy specified, 4:00A.M. My guess is that the
moon was (from its center) about 0.4-0.5 degrees SOUTH of Mars (viewed
from southern Indiana) at closest point.

In a 100x eyepiece I could see Mars and most of the moon. The Martian
disc easily showed the polar cap and some surface features in that
view. I wish I could have photographed it.


  #8  
Old July 17th 03, 02:32 PM
bwhiting
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Posts: n/a
Default Apparent Moon-Mars 'collison'

Tom Hole
"bwhiting" wrote in message
...

Hey, if anyone is still up, look out to the south...if you have clear
skies.
The moon is rapidly closing on Mars....from 42 N Lat,
80 W. longitude, they are currently (0630 GMT) only
0.5 degree apart....I believe Mars gets occulted
by the Moon farther south, in just a few hours from
now....maybe sooner. From our latitude, looks like
the moon will miss by 0.25 degree south of Mars.
FWIW,
Tom W.



Tom,

Thank you for posting this message. I had forgotten about this conjunction,
but had set the alarm to get up at 0430 Eeastern time. I got up and decided
not to have a go but just read some messages and go back to bed. I read
your post and immediately went out and got a lifetime view of Mars and Luna.
Here in MD, the closest point of appraoch was only 4 arcminutes, which I was
able to see. I had a wonderful view of Mars and the moon even at 375x (13'
TFOV). Best view was with the my st80 "finder".

So, good thing you posted or I would've missed it. Thanks.

Clear skies,

Tom


You're welcome...actually I had forgotten about it too, Tom,
until I looked out my window from the computer room,
and there is was up there.
Tw.

  #9  
Old July 17th 03, 09:13 PM
Reece Watkins
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Posts: n/a
Default Apparent Moon-Mars 'collison'

I managed to shoot it with my MiniDV camcorder, but the Moon washed out all
detail due to brightness. You can tell Mars is orangeish-red in a few
seconds of the tape, though.

Very cool.

Clear Skies!
Reece Watkins

"bwhiting" wrote in message
...
Hey, if anyone is still up, look out to the south...if you have clear
skies.
The moon is rapidly closing on Mars....from 42 N Lat,
80 W. longitude, they are currently (0630 GMT) only
0.5 degree apart....I believe Mars gets occulted
by the Moon farther south, in just a few hours from
now....maybe sooner. From our latitude, looks like
the moon will miss by 0.25 degree south of Mars.
FWIW,
Tom W.



  #10  
Old July 17th 03, 09:58 PM
David Nakamoto
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Posts: n/a
Default Apparent Moon-Mars 'collison'

"Dave Werner" wrote in message
...
Here's how it looked in Wisconsin...

http://www.photo.net/photodb/photo?p...620951&size=lg

(Canon 10d w/ Tak FS-102)

Good Morning,

Dave Werner


Yup, and as I've been telling people who are preparing for the public star
party
deluge of people, it's clear that Mars is not even as large as the crater
Copernicus.
And it isn't going to get much bigger; only 25% more.

So be prepared to either pump that magnification to Schwartzenegger (sp?)
proportions,
or prepare your audience for the "experience."
:-)

Clear and Steady Nights !
--- Dave


 




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