Is there Life on Mars?

The_Conductor

Not really sure where this should go- but what the hell, I'm sure it'll find a happy home here.

MARK AUGUST 27th ON YOUR CALDENDAR MARS WILL APPEAR AS BIG AS THE MOON! FIRST TIME IN AT LEAST 5,000 YEARS!

Never again in your lifetime will the Red Planet be so spectacular! This month and next, Earth is catching up with Mars, an encounter that will culminate in the closest approach between the two planets in recorded history. The next time Mars may come this close is in 2287. Due to the way Jupiter's gravity tugs on Mars and perturbs its orbit, astronomers can only be certain that Mars has not come this close to Earth in the last 5,000 years but it may be as long as 60,000 years. On August 27, Mars will come within 34,649,589 miles and will be (next to the moon) the brightest object in the night sky. It will attain a magnitude of -2.9 and will appear 25.11 arc seconds wide. At a modest 75-power magnification Mars will look as large as the full moon to the naked eye. Mars will be easy to spot. At the beginning of August, Mars will rise in the east at 10 p.m. and reach its azimuth at about 3 a.m. But by the end of August when the two planets are closest, Mars will rise at nightfall and reach its highest point in the sky at 12:30 a.m. (Hmmm- thats in Vancouver, its a Canadian friend who sent this to me- for extra brownie points, you get to work out what it is in this time zone........) That's pretty convenient when it comes to seeing something that no human has seen in recorded history. So mark your calendar at the beginning of August to see Mars grow progressively brighter and brighter throughout the month.

References to the above on the following:


http://www.bbc.co.uk/wiltshire/weather/nightskyjuly.shtml

http://www.croydonastro.org.uk/20030718/Welcome20030718.pdf

news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/3093693.stm

www.manastro.free-online.co.uk/nwgas/events.html


www.krysstal.com/sky.html

www.astro.washington.edu/dept/mars_opposition.html

www.astronomy.org.au/ngn/media/ client/100220_Infosheet_13.pdf

stardate.org/resources/news/mars2003/ mars_magnificent.html

www.planetary.org/marswatch2003/marsday.html

www.space.com/spacewatch/mars_preview_021108.html

basic1.easily.co.uk/057044/04D005/NAW2003p2.pdf

TheWolf

Science, or after hours?

Unless your worried about what the gravitational pull will have on the size of your nob, then it should fit in with all the other threads here at the mo... :rolleyes:

Gordon

Heh! Erm not sure whether to put this in astronomy or science....

The_Conductor

Feel free to move it- wasn't sure where to put it. Felt it was more general interest that Science- maybe I've an unreal idea of what folks like to do with their spare time- but I'm not going down that road :-)

Cheers!

Shane

Sev

Originally posted by smccarrick
MARK AUGUST 27th ON YOUR CALDENDAR MARS WILL APPEAR AS BIG AS THE MOON! FIRST TIME IN AT LEAST 5,000 YEARS!

The rest of the article is accurate in what it reads, but it appears that whoever added the above title to the text has seriously misinterpreted what it said.

The_Conductor

My Canadian penpal?
Ooops!
Still even if it were sensationalising it a bit, the rest is accurate.

Shane

The_Conductor

August 27th optimum view of Mars- in close alignment with the moon.
Tonight (depending on the weather- which is pretty crabby at the moment) <snip>
No Advertising on forum please, You may provide a link to a website with this information.
Shane

albertw

August 27th optimum view of Mars- in close alignment with the moon.

um... doesnt alignment in terms of viewing generally mean that they are in the same position in the sky? The new moon is 175 degrees away on this date. Neptune and uranus are closeby relativly and will be within small-mid size scope range.

A little less blatant advertising on a site that apparently has a no advertising policy would be nice...

Cheers,
~Al

Agar

A little less blatant advertising on a site that apparently has a no advertising policy would be nice...

Hear, hear.

The_Conductor

Ok- point taken . I'm not actually a member of Astronomy Ireland btw- I was shown the letter by an ex who is, and thought I'd pass it onwards.
Was not delibertly trying to advertise anything- was simply passing on information, am not going to the bbq myself (as I'll be down the country) just thought I'd do a good deed and pass the info onwards. If anyone takes it as "blatant advertising" be my guest to remove it. Astronomy Ireland are a volunteer group of astronomy enthusiasts- not a business at all per se.

halenger

Lets not get into this arguement again before anyone starts.

A tad too much advertising indeed. Even though I'm an Astronomy Ireland person I'll agree with you lads.

It's ok to point out that the event is on, and location,but you're better off linking it back to the Astronomy Ireland webpage-in this case-or whereever.

Hope that satisfies everyone.

Agar

Isn't this a joke! Here we are on an Astronomy forum and informing readers of an event is suddenly considered advertising! I have no problem with anybody saying, "The Westport and Area Astronomy Society have an event tonight if anyone's interested." Surely that's part of the reason behind this forum. It's the reference to how amazing the equipment is that I didn't like. Sniffed a bit of propoganda. No offence though Shane.
The main problem in Astronomy in Ireland is the compartmentalisation of certain societies and groups. One hand will not wash the other. David Levy's coming to Ireland in September, but not every Irish Astronomer will be informed of that. That's not right. We should ask our respective societies to freely mention the events planned by others. Share dammit. It can be done. Terry Moseley gave his aliens talk at an AI meeting, even though he's a member of the IAA.
Life on Mars? Uh ... no, not yet anyway, and not even simple organisms, unless they hitched a lift.

Redshift

Agar, I am all for allowing events to be notified to this board however Shanes post was blatant advertising as was picked up by a couple or people including you. You also point out that you only have a problem with the "Amazing Equipment" aspect of the post I don't have the luxury of such an a la carte view of it. If for instance I left the post intact I would likely be accused of favouritism therin lies my dilema. As I have previously stated your input is entirely welcome if you see something which could be done a better way then let me know. Having thought about Shanes post this evening and the way it was handled which btw I am not entirely happy with I think it might be an Idea to create a stickied thread for Events where ALL organizations may notify their events to the community here. Let me know what you think.

Ryan

albertw

Originally posted by Redshift
Let me know what you think.

Well say I owned a telescope shop, and organised a `telescope night` to show all my prospective customers the wonders of the night sky and posted about the event here, that would be advertising right?

Im not saying thats what A&S/AI are doing, they will have people there with telescopes that the club/shop doesnt sell, and it should be an educational and enjoyable event for all who go.

<SNIP>Comment removed due to breach of charter.

I'd go on but I'd get banned again :-)

An events thread is probably the way to go. Though IFAS affiliated clubs will probably be using the irishastronomy.org board and wont go up here unless I find time to crosspost! Btw I've had no reply from AI yet about whether they would consider joining the IFAS or include the irishastronomy.org site in the `society news` section of the mag, I've sent a reminder, so hopefully I'll hear back in the coming weeks. Then again I was told that the `everyone in ireland buys from ..` comment on the website would be removed and it hasnt so well wait and see.

Hope any of you that go to the event have a good night.

Clear Skies,
~Al

halenger

You know honestly at this stage I'm simply sick of this board. So this is me out of here.

I'm gonna leave you all int he capable hands of Redshift. I'm sure he'll keep doing the good job that he's doing.

As regards the IFAS invitation all knowledge of it has been denied. I did bring up the point but things are as they are.

I will quote your post in an e-mail I'm going to send but I'm staying well out of it. Like everything else.

The_Conductor

Ok guys, all I admit to -is a bit too much enthusiasm.
We are such a small little country- it really does not make sense for the different organisations not to talk to each other. I know there are the "personality" issues, with one or two committee members- but this is a bit much.

Fingers crossed for a clear sky on the 27th, and all the filters spotlessly clean.

Shane

albertw

Originally posted by smccarrick Ok guys, all I admit to -is a bit too much enthusiasm.
We are such a small little country- it really does not make sense for the different organisations not to talk to each other.

Agreed. And yea, we need a bigger country ;-)

Fingers crossed for a clear sky on the 27th, and all the filters spotlessly clean.

And primary lenses fingerprint free (don't et kids near telescopes!), despite that I got some nice views last night.

Cheers,
~Al

The_Conductor

Or partners either.
Mine has a hare-brained idea of attaching an automatic digital camera to the telescope to capture a series of stills. Idea is sound, her equipment is not.....
Shes the enthusiast, I'm just a passerby

Shane

albertw

Originally posted by smccarrick
Or partners either.
Mine has a hare-brained idea of attaching an automatic digital camera to the telescope to capture a series of stills. Idea is sound, her equipment is not.....

Well I've seen webcams attached to telescopes with a 35mm film can and sellotape, so its not that hare-brained an idea!

Cheers,
~Al

Redshift

Albert, To answer your question about events and advertising for the moment I'm going to review each post on the events board on its own merit. The only other alternative to just to stop anybody posting any event whatsoever which as Agar pointed out is not ideal either. I as far as I am concerned an event is an event and regardless of wether it's an astronomy event or a motor or computer show there are always people selling their wares at these events but as long as they don't post what they are selling here I have no problem with it. Basically they may announce the existence of the event and briefy give the relevant details. I also hope you find the time to cross post your events here. I am also editing your post and you know why.

Regards

Ryan

Stark

Don't see how the thread title relates to the post. Besides weren't the martians killed off when we colonised Mars, infected them all with smallpox and then agreed never to mention the nasty business again?

comet

Speaking of Mars, this is class!!!
http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/image/0208/marsglobe_viking_big.jpg