View Full Version : Tomorrow 9pm mars will be above the moon
spread_the_truth
29-01-2010, 12:40 AM
Mars and the full Moon pair up to provide a grand celestial spectacle on Friday night.
The Red Planet, now 62 million miles from Earth, will be at its brightest this year as it lines up opposite the Sun.
At around 9pm, Mars will be above and to the left of the Moon, about the length of an outstretched fist away.
A standard SLR camera fitted with a telephoto lens is all you need to capture the scene, says Robin Scagell, from the Society for Popular Astronomy.
"Mars is looking really quite red and impressive at the moment, and the Moon will be full, he said. "It's going to be a great sight and rather fun to look for.
"A telescope has too close a field of view, but with a 100mm telephoto lens you'd just about get them both in the picture, and you'll be able to see details on the Moon."
A pair of binoculars and a clear out-of-town sky will reveal an added bonus - the "beehive" star cluster - between the two objects, said Mr Scagell.
Mars is at its most spectacular when close to the Earth at opposition.
In 2003 the planet was just 35 million miles away as it faced the Sun, and more than four times brighter than it will be tomorrow night.
http://uk.news.yahoo.com/21/20100128/tsc-mars-and-moon-in-heavenly-show-4b158bc.html
Mars and the full Moon pair up to provide a grand celestial spectacle on Friday night.
The Red Planet, now 62 million miles from Earth, will be at its brightest this year as it lines up opposite the Sun.
At around 9pm, Mars will be above and to the left of the Moon, about the length of an outstretched fist away.
A standard SLR camera fitted with a telephoto lens is all you need to capture the scene, says Robin Scagell, from the Society for Popular Astronomy.
"Mars is looking really quite red and impressive at the moment, and the Moon will be full, he said. "It's going to be a great sight and rather fun to look for.
"A telescope has too close a field of view, but with a 100mm telephoto lens you'd just about get them both in the picture, and you'll be able to see details on the Moon."
A pair of binoculars and a clear out-of-town sky will reveal an added bonus - the "beehive" star cluster - between the two objects, said Mr Scagell.
Mars is at its most spectacular when close to the Earth at opposition.
In 2003 the planet was just 35 million miles away as it faced the Sun, and more than four times brighter than it will be tomorrow night.
http://uk.news.yahoo.com/21/20100128/tsc-mars-and-moon-in-heavenly-show-4b158bc.html
Awesome!
helloperator
29-01-2010, 01:52 AM
Well we look forward to that Greg
Too much cloud cover where I am. I won't be able to witness Mars' performance tonight. :(
hoverfly
29-01-2010, 10:17 PM
Mars and the full Moon pair up to provide a grand celestial spectacle on Friday night.
The Red Planet, now 62 million miles from Earth, will be at its brightest this year as it lines up opposite the Sun.
A standard SLR camera fitted with a telephoto lens is all you need to capture the scene, says Robin Scagell, from the Society for Popular Astronomy.
http://uk.news.yahoo.com/21/20100128/tsc-mars-and-moon-in-heavenly-show-4b158bc.html
'Spreadthetruth', if you know of any good resulting photo's, could you please post them here ?
:)
pri01
29-01-2010, 10:28 PM
I don't think it will be visible with the naked eye. No planet gets closer to the earth than venus.
zetetic0void
29-01-2010, 11:08 PM
I don't think it will be visible with the naked eye. No planet gets closer to the earth than venus.
Mars is always visible to the naked eye (unless it happens to be roughly on the other side of the Sun from us and thus would be obscured by the bright dusk or dawn sun glow.
But Mars is one of the bright planets and one of the classically known planets (Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn .... Uranus and Neptune being faint and not noticable ...although Uranus is just at the threshold of the limit of the faintest things visible to the well dark-adapted eye but not really noticable enough to have attracted attention as a planet by the ancient "planet" basically means 'wanderer' as these bright "stars" moved over yearly cycles against the background of so-called "fixed stars").
Mars appears kind of orange-ish and maybe comparable in brightness to Sirius (and is one of the few bright "star"-like things you can see in the sky from brightly-lit city locations) which is between it and Orion at the moment
----------
If you have even a cheap telescope, take a look at it. You'll likely see a disk to it with possibly some fuzzy mottled darker zoned on it and possibly a whiter zone which would be a polar region
velma
29-01-2010, 11:11 PM
I can see it, bright and orange, alongside the full moon in a cloudless sky. :)
lookfar
29-01-2010, 11:12 PM
I can see it too, it's amazing & just got some pics!:D
beldazar
29-01-2010, 11:13 PM
AAgghhh, just going outside :)
cloudy :(
ah bugger! Was at 9.pm anyway, it wasn't cloudy then.
I will look forward to your pics Lookie, I'm glad you saw it :)
duckandcover
29-01-2010, 11:17 PM
I can see it too, it's amazing & just got some pics!:D
pics , or it didnt happen :p
apt name for this thread btw :D
Looks real nice , the wolves`ll love it.
lookfar
29-01-2010, 11:19 PM
Ok, I'll go dig out my camera cable & upload em for ya....:) Shame you couldn't see it Bel, it's lovely & clear here tonight.
zetetic0void
29-01-2010, 11:28 PM
For anyone viewing Mars, try finding Orion and Sirius. For northern hemisphere viewers they would be maybe 6 or 70 or so 'fist widths' away from Mars towards the right-ish direction ... the three stars of Orion's belt are pretty easy to spot and Sirius sort of is in a line roughly below and left of those (but not in a real line as the Zeitgeist movie appears to claim).
(if it is too late when you view, perhaps Orion has already started to set)
lookfar
29-01-2010, 11:41 PM
Ok here you go, sorry they're not that good but my zoom is a bit crud.
http://img403.imageshack.us/img403/5909/dscf0554x.jpg
http://img684.imageshack.us/img684/9063/dscf0552x.jpg
http://img192.imageshack.us/img192/3808/dscf0551p.jpg
http://img85.imageshack.us/img85/4544/dscf0550e.jpg
subl1minal
29-01-2010, 11:58 PM
The moon is literally blinding tonight, if you look at it, you get abit of a glare in your eye.
Mars looks awesome though, I can't help but look at that orange/red little dot and think ''I wonder if anyone is looking back..''
lookfar
30-01-2010, 12:02 AM
The moon is literally blinding tonight, if you look at it, you get abit of a glare in your eye.
Mars looks awesome though, I can't help but look at that orange/red little dot and think ''I wonder if anyone is looking back..''
Yeah it is very bright tonight & I seem to be mesmerised by them both, I keep nipping outside to moongaze with a glass of Baileys to keep me warm:D
sub x
30-01-2010, 12:13 AM
I can see it too, it's amazing & just got some pics!:D
Excellent look forward to seeing your pictures ;)
subl1minal
30-01-2010, 12:17 AM
Yeah it is very bright tonight & I seem to be mesmerised by them both, I keep nipping outside to moongaze with a glass of Baileys to keep me warm:D
Haha Same here, I had to walk my Nan home earlier and I couldn't help but turn around, walk backwards and look up at it, then I tripped up on a curb :D
Amazing how fascinating a little dot in the sky can be haha
lookfar
30-01-2010, 12:21 AM
Excellent look forward to seeing your pictures ;)
They're up there already in post number 14:)
Haha Same here, I had to walk my Nan home earlier and I couldn't help but turn around, walk backwards and look up at it, then I tripped up on a curb :D
Amazing how fascinating a little dot in the sky can be haha
Lol, sorry I shouldn't laugh, but I know what you mean:D I was just laid out on the sunbed in the garden staring upwards. A plane went by as well, bet they've got a great view from up there too! My hands are still thawing out so I'm finding it hard to type, lol!:)
beldazar
30-01-2010, 12:22 AM
Its clear here now!
I can see it :)
lookfar
30-01-2010, 12:28 AM
Its clear here now!
I can see it :)
Yay, that's great bel!:D Gorgeous isn't it, but bloody cold, lol!:D
lookfar
30-01-2010, 12:31 AM
Haha Same here, I had to walk my Nan home earlier and I couldn't help but turn around, walk backwards and look up at it, then I tripped up on a curb :D
Amazing how fascinating a little dot in the sky can be haha
Sorry subl1minal, I forgot to say "welcome to the forum", I only just noticed that you've recently joined up:) Look forward to seeing you around & happy moongazing:D
subl1minal
30-01-2010, 12:34 AM
Sorry subl1minal, I forgot to say "welcome to the forum", I only just noticed that you've recently joined up:) Look forward to seeing you around & happy moongazing:D
Arrrr thank you! :D Recently saw Icke being interviewed by Project Camelot and I can't believe I hadn't started checking his work out sooner! So I thought I best join the forums and have a nose :D
And you're right, it's DAMN cold out!
sub x
30-01-2010, 12:35 AM
Yeah it is very bright tonight & I seem to be mesmerised by them both, I keep nipping outside to moongaze with a glass of Baileys to keep me warm:D
Thanks Lookfar ;) and to think we have clear skies here in Ireland tonight and I almost missed it,if it hadn't been for this thread,the system works :D
lookfar
30-01-2010, 12:45 AM
Arrrr thank you! :D Recently saw Icke being interviewed by Project Camelot and I can't believe I hadn't started checking his work out sooner! So I thought I best join the forums and have a nose :D
And you're right, it's DAMN cold out!
Oh I've not seen that interview, will check it out later. I'm glad you found your way here, it's a good place imo with lots of friendly people, I hope you enjoy it here:D
Hehe, yeah I'm only just warming up again, but was definitely worth it!:)
Thanks Lookfar ;) and to think we have clear skies here in Ireland tonight and I almost missed it,if it hadn't been for this thread,the system works :D
You're welcome sub x:) I'm glad you guys have a clear sky over there too & you got to see it!:D I was texting my friend when I was in the garden, but she couldn't see it from her place as they're constructing a new hotel out the front & it's blocking her view, bummer eh:(
lakkimakki
30-01-2010, 09:47 AM
yeah i --saw-- it yestarday, beautiful red spot....
It was VERY cloudy here last night. I wasn't even going to bother trying to look. Thankfully, due to the miserable wet cold and wind, my father had the heat cranked to an intolerable point so I parted to curtain on my East bedroom window to crack it open a bit.
The moon's brightness caught my eye and when I looked up I saw the clouds had parted momentarily and there it was! Mars!
When I looked directly at it, it appeared bright white as a star but when I trained my gaze beside it I could see it having a light reddish-pink tint.
I stood in the window for a very long time waiting for the winds to blow past; clouds both small and of giant sizes and between the cloud banks I looked up at the planet.
I got out my camera but while the camera could easily pick up the moon it could not pick up Mars! I tried zooming and even changing the settings to night photography - nothing. How odd. Perhaps the brightness of the moon overwhelmed the camera's ability to see Mars. It's not a top of the line camera. Lol!
Thanks to Great Spirit for creating the event and creating the certain event in my house leading me to the window to see it, thanks to OP for telling us to expect it, and thanks to Lookfar for having a camera capable of taking photos of Mars and for taking the photos and posting them.
P.S. I saw a satellite, too!
lookfar
30-01-2010, 05:41 PM
It was VERY cloudy here last night. I wasn't even going to bother trying to look. Thankfully, due to the miserable wet cold and wind, my father had the heat cranked to an intolerable point so I parted to curtain on my East bedroom window to crack it open a bit.
The moon's brightness caught my eye and when I looked up I saw the clouds had parted momentarily and there it was! Mars!
When I looked directly at it, it appeared bright white as a star but when I trained my gaze beside it I could see it having a light reddish-pink tint.
I stood in the window for a very long time waiting for the winds to blow past; clouds both small and of giant sizes and between the cloud banks I looked up at the planet.
I got out my camera but while the camera could easily pick up the moon it could not pick up Mars! I tried zooming and even changing the settings to night photography - nothing. How odd. Perhaps the brightness of the moon overwhelmed the camera's ability to see Mars. It's not a top of the line camera. Lol!
Thanks to Great Spirit for creating the event and creating the certain event in my house leading me to the window to see it, thanks to OP for telling us to expect it, and thanks to Lookfar for having a camera capable of taking photos of Mars and for taking the photos and posting them.
P.S. I saw a satellite, too!
Hey coco, how're you doing honey?:)
I'm really pleased that you got to see it too, but bummer about your camera. Mine's not that good, but it did manage to pick Mars up a wee bit, so I was pleased with that & glad you liked the pics too:D
My friend in Scotland said she was also mesmerised by it last night too, I found that I couldn't stay away and had to keep going back outside for peeks:)
snapdragon
30-01-2010, 05:57 PM
Will mars be visible tonight? 30/1/10? It was cloudy here yesterday, but looks better today.
lookfar
30-01-2010, 06:14 PM
Will mars be visible tonight? 30/1/10? It was cloudy here yesterday, but looks better today.
I'm not sure tbh, but I hope it is so that you can get to see it too:)
bornfree
30-01-2010, 06:22 PM
Both are visible now from london
Spectacular :D
snapdragon
30-01-2010, 08:04 PM
Yes, thanks folks, I can see mars, I now know I have seen it before.
Here's my pic of the moon, the Mars one is rubbish, it is just a salmon coloured dot. :rolleyes:
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4002/4316952406_a6cde332a0_o.jpg
Notice the pale lines (tracks) running in the direction of diagonally upper left to lower right?
lookfar
30-01-2010, 08:27 PM
Wow did you just take that pic of the moon? It's lovely! Looks like you've got a fab camera there to zoom in like that:)
sm1973
30-01-2010, 08:30 PM
Both are visible now from london
Spectacular :D
I think I saw Mars at about 6.00 pm, there was a very bright and low moon and it was above it to the left!
The moon looked brilliant tonight, just with a standard pair of binoculars I could make out a bit of detail :)
fekdemasons
30-01-2010, 08:30 PM
I've just filmed MArs and the moon on my cam corder (70 x zoom)
Just about to have a look now. I managed to get MArs in the view finder for about 20 secs before I lost it. Then closed up on the moon.
If its worth popping on U tube in slow mo I will and add some music .
I also did this with Saturn a few months ago so may put them on one vid.
sm1973
30-01-2010, 08:32 PM
I've just filmed MArs and the moon on my cam corder (70 x zoom)
Just about to have a look now. I managed to get MArs in the view finder for about 20 secs before I lost it. Then closed up on the moon.
If its worth popping on U tube in slow mo I will and add some music .
I also did this with Saturn a few months ago so may put them on one vid.
How did you know it was Saturn :)
fekdemasons
30-01-2010, 08:43 PM
How did you know it was Saturn :)
Sorry My mistake it was Jupiter. :o
I just went back through my emails.
I emailed some nerdy fella in Ireland with some footage I took and put on UT.
He said it was " Mighty planet Jupiter "
sm1973
30-01-2010, 08:49 PM
Sorry My mistake it was Jupiter. :o
I just went back through my emails.
I emailed some nerdy fella in Ireland with some footage I took and put on UT.
He said it was " Mighty planet Jupiter "
Cool, have you still got the image?
fekdemasons
30-01-2010, 08:58 PM
Cool, have you still got the image?
Yes mate,
Its actually 3 mins of footage I shot. The auto focus makes it look like its doing wierd Shit. Like its greenish one minute than has a violet dot on it then it looks to have a striaght edge etc.
YOu'll see what I mean. I will post up tomorrow if thats ok with the mars footage (if its up to anything) I'm just finishing off anothe UT video for the UFO thread.
cheers
kohwoz
30-01-2010, 09:16 PM
Im in hamburg. I've also got a good view of mars above the full moon. We had a lot of snow yesterday and today it's been lovely blue skies and tonight totally clear. Looks great with the snow and full moon..
Have fun
snapdragon
30-01-2010, 09:23 PM
Wow did you just take that pic of the moon? It's lovely! Looks like you've got a fab camera there to zoom in like that:)
Thanks ;) I bought the camera a months ago for a trip abroad.
It's a Lumix FZ38, it's not an SLR, but I am very very pleased with it.
I might take some more in a bit, but its very cold :eek:
Well, here's another, (cropped)
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2678/4317179186_be44d947c2_o.jpg
lookfar
30-01-2010, 10:42 PM
Beautiful pic snapdragon & that camera is a cool bit of kit (I've just googled it:)) Wish I'd paid the extra £100 or so now when I got mine, it's pretty naff but wasn't that cheap, (doh me:o) & it's a good zoom that I'm after most. I'll have to wait a bit for my next upgrade...:)
Just nipping out to see if I can see them both again...