Because I feel like I have missed it but my science techer said she had gotten the date wrong.
2006-08-30 01:16:25 · 12 answers · asked by Mystery 2 in Science & Mathematics ➔ Astronomy & Space
You can always see Mars with the naked eye. It looks like a smalish orange star rising just after the moon. It appears larger or smaller depending on it's distance from earth, but it's always visible. At the last closest aproach, a few month ago it appeared as a small bright disk. That's as large as it gets.
2006-08-30 01:20:27 · answer #1 · answered by evil_tiger_lily 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Whenever Mars is in the night sky it is visible to the naked eye - it's actually pretty easy to see. But not right now, because right now Mars is on the opposite side of the Sun as seen from Earth, so Mars is above the horizon in the daytime and below the horizon at night.
The next time you'll be able to see Mars will be starting either late this year or early next year (2007), when it will be visible in the east just before sunrise. As time goes on it will rise earlier and earlier. It will reach opposition in December 2007, that's when it will rise at sunset and be in the sky all night long. It will continue to rise earlier and earlier, making it easier to see in the evening after sunset.
Mars and Earth get close to each other roughly every two years (but not exactly!) - Both planets orbit the Sun, but Mars takes longer to go once around than Earth does. Sometimes those close passes are closer than at other times (because planets' orbits are not perfect circles). In 2003 the close pass was closer than it had been in centuries, and closer than it will be again in centuries, but the actual difference in closeness is pretty small, relatively speaking.
2006-08-30 03:51:21 · answer #2 · answered by kris 6 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Mars never gets close enough to Earth to appear as big as the Moon, but it does pass Earth every 2 years and 2 months. Those passages are called oppositions because Mars is opposite the Sun in our sky, at which times it looks like a bright star. It is visible for several months before and after opposition. The next opposition will be in the fall of 2007.
2006-08-30 01:57:22 · answer #3 · answered by campbelp2002 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Your science teacher probably told you that it would pass closest to Earth than it ever had before. Because he/she was misinformend with that chain email that was floating around.
Mars did pass RELATIVELY close to Earth, but nowhere near as close as they claim it did.
Mars is pretty readily seen with the naked eye on most fall nights. It simply looks like a dim reddish-orangish star. Look up a good star chart, go outside and look up. You'll be sure to spot it.
2006-08-30 01:44:22 · answer #4 · answered by AresIV 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
the Mars "close approach" happened in 2003. I'm suprised your science teacher was actually fooled by the hoax that it was this year. The next time Mars will be as close to earth as it was in 2003 will be on August 28, 2287.
2006-08-30 01:22:33 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
certain, that's dwindled orange. apparently like a fashionable man or woman except it would not twinkle as a lot. you may also see Venus, Jupiter, Saturn and infrequently, Mercury. in case you recognize the position or perhaps as to search for them. They move round in the constellations of the zodiac.
2016-11-23 14:15:56 · answer #6 · answered by sangster 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Often. Relax, you haven't miss your chance. It continues to exist in the sky, even when it's not at its absolute closest. Look up. It's the only reddish orange planet there.
2006-08-30 01:22:25 · answer #7 · answered by Tekguy 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I believe in the year 2606? anyway a long time from now
2006-08-30 01:25:40 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋
the date was august 27th, i missed it too. the bad thing is that the same phenomenon won't happen again until 2287.
too bad for both of us...
2006-08-30 01:23:29 · answer #9 · answered by antigone 4 · 0⤊ 2⤋
2228
2006-08-30 02:11:50 · answer #10 · answered by hkyboy96 5 · 0⤊ 1⤋