Mars......

[mtreno]

whats up with this mars thing? thought we could see it by the moon or something? or in the est sky? thought someone said it would be the size of the moon by the end of the month? keep hereing all this stuff but yet i look up into the sky and see the smae thing every night. just a bunch of stars and a great big ol moon. anyone know the real story????? sure have been alot of shotting stars this summer..... think the northern lights will be as good this winter?

ok back to work

[jtroop]

The email going around suggesting that Mars would be as big as the moon was a hoax. I think it's supposed to be the brightest thing in the sky (other than the sun and moon) but it'll still pretty much just look like a very bright star to the naked eye.

[Cooter]

I sure could be wrong, but I think its one of the brightess stars and certainly one of the first ones visible each night, as it has been for quite some time now. I've noticed it for well over a year now.

[Slyster]

Mars isn't that bright.. and a reddish color.. the VERY bright white one at sunset (or sunrise at times or morning/evening star- depending on what side of the sun it's on)is Venus.

[delmuts]

i just got a e-mail stating that the 27 of aug. will be when the planet mars will be its' brightest. the memo said it will appear the same size as the moon. they claim the planet hasn't been this close to us for over 6000 yrs. or more.

[fish-n-geek]

Not sure which of these sites I can / can't link to here, but snopes dot com has a good explanation of this partial hoax. Search for Mars and hit the first link. There is a slight typo in most versions of that email floating around. It should read: "At a modest 75-power magnification Mars will look as large as the full moon to the naked eye" but many copies of the email fail to mention the 75x magnification

-rus-

[ghotierman]

The two brightest stars you see in the west early after sunset are Jupiter and Saturn....with a pair of 10x binoculars you can make out the moons of jupiter. Mars will rise in the east and appear reddish/orange...

the shooting stars you saw recently were the peak period of the Perseid Meteor shower, an annual event. At it's peak you may see 60 or more per hour on average.

if you have access to a larger telescope, you can get a great view of mars and even make out the polar ice cap...it is very colorful...and as it is at it's closest to earth right now is a great opportunity to view it.

This time of year is great for stargazing....cooler nights=less humidity=brighter viewing....Orion will be rising soon...marking the beginning of the hunting season!

There are also less bugs to bother you when your stargazing, and being on the water can give you an incredible panorama...do a google search for a star chart and go find some constellations!

good luck and good stargazing! ")

[troutchaser]

The email also fails to mention that it was that close in 2003.

Here is the link

http://www.space.com/spacewatch/mars_preview_021108.html