Close But Not That Close

Have you received an email that says, "This summer Mars will be closer to the Earth than ever before”? This email is true -- or rather, it was. But it was about an event that happened in 2003. For some reason, this email has been circulating recently and getting everyone excited over an event that has already passed. That doesn't mean there's no reason to take a peek at Mars right now. In fact, this year Mars will be making another close approach to the Earth, but there are several differences between this event and the 2003 event.

In 2003 Mars was closer to Earth than it had been in possibly the last 60,000 years. By late August, the only thing brighter than Mars in the evening sky was the Moon. However, even at this close approach, Mars was still more than 35 million miles away. There were reports that Mars would look as large as the Moon, but Mars only looked like a very bright star (for Mars to look the same size as the Moon, Mars would need to be about 470,000 miles away -- or just under twice the distance to the Moon. That would be a scary event indeed!).

Currently Mars is rising around 10 pm and is moving towards the constellation of Aries the Ram. Each day Mars rises a little earlier and grows brighter. On October 30, Mars will be at its closest point to the Earth and will look its brightest on November 7. Also, Mars will be higher in the sky than it was in 2003. The 2005 opposition of Mars will be the best time to see Mars until 2018 because Mars’s apparent size will not be this large again until that year.

So keep looking for this interesting planet and remember not to believe everything that lands in your e-mail inbox -- unless it's from me.