During the past month, Mars has doubled in brightness and it is putting on a nice show for backyard stargazers.

On Nov. 27th, view as the sun rises and a hint of blue infuses the twilight sky. The sight of the silver Moon and red Mars backlit by blue sky is breathtaking.

Mars has gotten so bright and attractive because Earth and Mars are converging. At closest approach on Dec. 18th, the two worlds will lie only 55 million miles apart. That may sound like a great distance, but it is just a hop, skip and a jump on the vast scale of the solar system.
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Very interesting.... if only I lived far from the city.... *sigh*

That's relatively close in the huge vacuum of space. *shudders* I don't like the sound of that. Maybe Earth is being pulled in closer by the Sun? Especially during Solar Eclipses I would think. The gravity being pulled on Earth is even greater during that time. Scary still.

The earth is not being pulled closer to the Sun. If we were that would move us further away from Mars. Solar eclipses make no difference what so ever to gravity, it is simply the shadow of the Moon reaching the Earth.

All that is happening is that Mars and Earth are orbiting the Sun at different speeds. Sometimes Mars is on the opposite side of the Sun to us, sometimes we are on the same side and the planets are relatively close. This happens roughly every two years and has been happening for billions of years.

I'm sure you can see Mars, even from all but the biggest cities! Its one of the brightest things in the sky now, and its color is unmistakable. I can see it plainly and I'm just a few miles from Washington D.C.

Brightness is not a problem, but all the buildings blocking even sunrise and sunset are a problem.

Uh... Isn't that one of the edited images from the "True Color of Mars" thread? It contained edited photos of Mars, showing how Mars really looks w/out the government editing it.

How is it that Mars has suddenly changed colors? This may possibly be proof to the recoloring theory.

This is just a random thought, though. I am undecided in the whole Apollo/Mars conspiracies.

Little Mothman, this forum section (Space and Astronomy) is totally apart from the conspiracy section, this meaning that this section has nothing to do with the conspiracy section.

Anyways if you want to see Mars's colour, buy a telescope and aim it now, that Mars is bright.

I know, but it just seemed interesting that a picture like that would come up in both a conspiracy section and a scientific one. Also, I am familiar with the different forums and their purposes. (Just because I'm new doesn't make me ignorant! ... Or does it? )

As I have already stated, I'm not trying to say that the conspiracy is true, or that the thread starter posted a misleading image. I was just pointing out a strange connection...

No worries. Welcome to UM.

How I wish i'm not living near the equator. just to see the event. me wanna see mars.

What's the problem? For example, Kuala Lampur (3°N 102°E at Wed 2007 Dec 5 16:11 UTC)

here in Manila to be specific Quezon City, it's pretty hard to see the stars and other heavenly bodies due to smoke/air pollution our skies are man made.

I saw it a couple of mornings ago. It was a spectacular sight. I knew it was either Venus or Mars. It was amazing to see it so close to the Earth.

I have to find a way to experience this wonderful sight.

Mars is not always so rewarding for viewing, esp. from the city. It really is best in a dark sky, when trying to use a telescope. And, a camera will record more than the eye.

I think this will be somewhat interesting to you, under the circumstances.

Mars 1


Mars and the Moon 1


Mars and the Moon 2

december 28th right? is that + or - in gmt? I'll try to see it in a dark place. and leave the city for that day.

This weekend looks like it might be cloudy or rain, for Quezon.

What would be ideal is clear, dark skies, and very little moonlight. But, the weekend of the opposition,
December 24, 2007, will be a Full Moon that lines up with Mars. So, that weekend is not good.

Also, Saturday, January 19th has Mars lined up next to a Waxing Gibbous Moon (o.k. for pics of Moon).


The best dates coming up, seen from Quezon-

Saturday, December 15th, 2007 is fair, but not excellent, with a Crescent Moon in the western sky.

Saturday, December 29th, 2007 is excellent, with a Waning Gibbous Moon that is over the horizon.

Saturday, January 5th, 2008 is excellent, with a Crescent Moon that is over the horizon (dark skies).

Saturday, January 12th is excellent, with a Crescent Moon that is over the horizon (dark skies).

Saturday, January 26th is excellent, with a Waning Gibbous Moon that is over the horizon (dark skies).

Saturday, Febuary 2nd is excellent, with a Crescent Moon that is over the horizon (dark skies).


It all depends on the weather, of course.









Also, here are some charts for Quezon on those nights. I chose an hour after sunset. The planets move east to west during the night.
This website did not keep them in order, so I had to use another site.

December 15 , December 23 , December 29 , January 5 , January 12 , January 19 , January 21 , Febuary 2

I took an old NASA chart and reworked the dates. They should be fairly accurate, even though I really only estimated the other years, besides 2007.