MARS! An Observer's Guide for Fall, 2005 (Post pics here!)

We all remember the hype in the late Spring, early Summer this year of the hoax of Mars being as large as the Full Moon in the sky. Well, if you don't, do a quick ATS Search and you'll find a plethera of information on that one.

Anyway, if you don't know much about Mars, but want to know some more, you could read through Astronomy: The Solar System.

So Mars is coming closer, making its closest approach on October 29th, but it won't appear the size of the Full Moon. At best, it should be about as bright as the planet Venus, which is one of the brightest objects in the sky. It's approaching at about 23,000 mph, if you're interested in the speed.

Right now the Red Planet is can be found in the eastern night sky, rising within a couple hours of sunset. As the month goes on, it'll be rising more and more in time with sunset.

Through a decent telescope you should be able to see many surface features: the polar ice caps, the Solar System's largest volcano Olympus Mons, a myriad of other surface details, and even dust storms! To the naked eye Mars will look like a bright, red-orange star.

If you don't own a telescope, you can ALWAYS find an astronomy club nearby. There are astronomy clubs all over the world.

Good luck seeing this beautiful planet!

Threads related to this topic
Mars, Earth encounter coming soon. (Asking about and debunking the Mars hoax)
Orange Star (An early sighting)
Mars Will Appear As A Bright Red Star! (Mocking and disproving the Mars hoax)

EDIT: Please use this thread to show off your photos as Mars approaches, passes, and falls behind. If you don't have a way to host them, message me and we'll talk.

[edit on 10/31/2005 by cmdrkeenkid]

Cool

I only have a cheap telescope that isn't even worth the trouble of setting up

Maybe some people can post photos on this thread.

Originally posted by Umbrax
Maybe some people can post photos on this thread.

Good idea! Edited to add that.

Keen did fail to mention some of the cooler things you might be able to see on Mars if you have a telescope. As 1121 of you already know, Mars was once infested with gigantic snakes. This was a dark time for Mars. The current population of sentient trees began to be devoured by these massive snakes. As a result, the Counsel Of Trees was convened with the eldest, wisest and largest trees attending. They determined a means by which to eliminate the snakes, but they would have to sacrifice most of their population. They did this by genetically engineering massive scorpions that were very poisonous to the snakes. However, the biomatter to create these creatures required was the same as 3 average sized trees. They created many of these scorpions, and unleashed them on the planet.

The scorpions eliminated the snake population, then turned on themselves until only one was left. This one died of starvation, and it's fossil is visible from space, as that image clearly shows.

If you want to know more about this history of Mars, I would recommend starting your search here, and follow the instructions provided within. Good luck!

here is just a quick read that i posted some time ago about this:

Viewer's Guide: Mars to be Spectacular in Fall, 2005

and, yes, this thread should be a place to share pics...

Excellent thread Kid. I was really into astronomy, when young, and mars used to be one of my favorite planets to view. At that time though, the most I could ever make out was, possibly, an ice cap. I might have to get the telescope out now though, as this sounds pretty interesting. Ah, what the heck, this is the best time of the year to spend the night outside watching the sky anyway.