Rendezvous with the Green Men
August 5, 2003 08:29 PM
Be prepared for the closest view of Mars in more than 50,000 years. Come August 27 and Mars will be the third brightest object in the sky, after Moon and Venus. Contrary to rumour mills, Mars won't be as visible to the naked eye as the Moon. The highest magnitudes of Moon and Venus are -12.7 and -4.0 respectively (The more negative the magnitude, the brighter the object). 
That of Mars will be only -2.9 on August 27. However, it is said that with the help of a 75-magnitude telescope, the red planet will appear as large as the moon, an event worth capturing on my camera. That remains to be seen. Mars has had its share of urban legends, the most famous being The Other Face. Know about the position of Mars here. Check this link for all activities related to Mars in 2003. You may also want to know more about perihelic oppositions.
7 comments have been added.
Add your comments.
1.
Mahesh Shantaram said...
The skies are too cloudy. Do you plan to go anywhere to get a good shot?
2.
Sachin Nair said...
This remind me of my school days when i used to try and view as much as possible with my uncle's binoculars. ... i had even tried making a telescope with grandma's Achan's and Amma's Specs lens.
Guess Galileo did a better job. ;) btw me and Amit Wagh might stake out with Amit's mini-telescope. So if you anywhere here ... ^.
ps: have sent a mail to mailATnilesh.org. REPLY
3.
Nilesh said...
The skies are too cloudy. Do you plan to go anywhere to get a good shot?
The skies aren't that cloudy here in Bangalore. I have been observing Mars for the last few days and have managed to get a good view. It does appear brighter than normal. In fact, after Moon, it appears to be brighter than most of the objects visible from behind the clouds.
4.
C'est la vie said...
Hi there...
First visit to your weblog..Interesting things here.. nothing intellectual that I can add.. would like to see mars myself.... no telescope:( Am not even sure though that I will recognize it even otherwise... (is it stoopid to confess things like this?)
5.
Amrita said...
That is interesting news..maybe I should plan a trip to Nehru Science center that day.
6.
Parag said...
Nilesh: You have some really beautiful pictures on your website. I like the design of your site too. I just posted a picture of Mars that I took this morning on my blog. Check it out. It is not the best, but, you can expect to see a few more in the coming days. From GeoURL, I found out that you are from Thane. Is that true? I am originally Thane too.
7.
Flypig said...
Sigh. I wont be in Bangalore till January. And its too hazy here right now. When I had access to a telescope, no SLR. Now its the reverse.
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Be prepared for the closest view of Mars in more than 50,000 years. Come August 27 and Mars will be the third brightest object in the sky, after Moon and Venus. Contrary to rumour mills, Mars won't be as visible to the naked eye as the Moon. The highest magnitudes of Moon and Venus are -12.7 and -4.0 respectively (The more negative the magnitude, the brighter the object). 
7 comments have been added. Add your comments.
1. Mahesh Shantaram said...
The skies are too cloudy. Do you plan to go anywhere to get a good shot?
2. Sachin Nair said...
This remind me of my school days when i used to try and view as much as possible with my uncle's binoculars. ... i had even tried making a telescope with grandma's Achan's and Amma's Specs lens.
Guess Galileo did a better job. ;) btw me and Amit Wagh might stake out with Amit's mini-telescope. So if you anywhere here ... ^.
ps: have sent a mail to mailATnilesh.org. REPLY
3. Nilesh said...
The skies are too cloudy. Do you plan to go anywhere to get a good shot?
The skies aren't that cloudy here in Bangalore. I have been observing Mars for the last few days and have managed to get a good view. It does appear brighter than normal. In fact, after Moon, it appears to be brighter than most of the objects visible from behind the clouds.
4. C'est la vie said...
Hi there...
First visit to your weblog..Interesting things here.. nothing intellectual that I can add.. would like to see mars myself.... no telescope:( Am not even sure though that I will recognize it even otherwise... (is it stoopid to confess things like this?)
5. Amrita said...
That is interesting news..maybe I should plan a trip to Nehru Science center that day.
6. Parag said...
Nilesh: You have some really beautiful pictures on your website. I like the design of your site too. I just posted a picture of Mars that I took this morning on my blog. Check it out. It is not the best, but, you can expect to see a few more in the coming days. From GeoURL, I found out that you are from Thane. Is that true? I am originally Thane too.
7. Flypig said...
Sigh. I wont be in Bangalore till January. And its too hazy here right now. When I had access to a telescope, no SLR. Now its the reverse.
Your Comments
* Please do not put off-topic comments. We reserve right to delete them at our discretion. You can post anonymously. If you are unable to see your posted comment immediately, it may have been queued for moderation. So do not submit it again. HTML formatting is allowed (only a, b, i, br, p, strong, em, ul, li & blockquote are allowed). Do not put paragraph tags. They are automatically inserted.