Mary The Red Planet Rules!

OK, not (strictly speaking) a Star Wars topic, but at least it's planetary-type space stuff.

We are totally jazzed to be able to go out on the back deck at our house and look up and see that little orange-ish object so bright in the sky! I love that the CNN science guy said "go out and look to the southeast at around 10 or 11 pm and Mars will be the brightest object in the sky"...and...it IS!! What an amazing experience. I have to admit that I'm a total sucker for this kind of stuff, the whole awesome concept of not being able to see the planet again in this way for another 60,000 years. It's way cool.

M.M. and Son of M.M.

 

wow...60,000 years?


I could have sworn that it was in the sky a few years back.


Or was that Venus? When you have the moon and another planet in the sky.

 

I would love to see it but we have so much light polllution here on base that you can barely see any stars at all. I guess I'll have to travel outside the city to get a good look at it.

I think the most amazing thing I've seen in the sky so far was when Hale-Bopp passed over sometime in 1997. I was in California at the time and went up to Lake Tahoe. It was truely an amazing site.

 

I'm a sucker for this stuff too. It's very cool. A few nights ago I went out to look and there it was.

 

Oooops...gotta correct myself. Mars was LAST this close to Earth 60,000 years ago. However, it won't be as visible again for another 240 years.

M.M.

 

ahhh....that makes more sense.

 

Well I went outside tonight and caught a glimpse of the Red Planet. There is alot of light around where I live but you can still see it fairly bright in the sky. I think it's totally awesome that I get to see two celestial events (the Hale-Bopp comet and Mars) in my lifetime. Not many people except for those living in this time will get to say that. Of course we won't be around to brag about it.

 

I find it funny, that they are now saying that tonight it will be even closer.


Can they get anything straight? ?

 

We were out looking on Saturday and it looked really good, better than 1988. Saw polar caps and lots of features. Go here for more info.

 

I agree. I took out my telescope last night and sat in the driveway looking at it. Fantastic.

 

I hope it clears up tonight
I will be at the Maryland Science Center to look though the big telescope. If anyone is in the area and not doing anything, stop on buy.
The Observatory is on the roof of the Maryland Science Center.

Tak