Mars Encounter

Earth and Mars are rapidly converging. Want to know how fast? Count slowly: one one-thousand, two one-thousand, three one-thousand.... You just got about 18 miles closer to the planet Mars.

Right now Mars is rising in the east at aprox. 10 p.m. and is reaching 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 by 12:30 a.m.

Mars is easy to spot. I took these pictures of Mars two nights ago without the aid of a telescope, using just my digital video recorder.

Our encounter with Mars will culminate on August 27th, 2003 when the planet comes to within 56 million km of Earth; making Mars the brightest object in the night sky - next to the moon. At a modest 75-power magnification, Mars will appear to be as large as the full moon appears to the naked eye.

This is the closest Mars has ever been to Earth in recorded history. Astronomers can only be certain that Mars has not come this close to Earth in the last 5,000 years; but it may have been as long as 60,000 years. What we do know for sure is that the next time Mars may come this close is in the year 2287.

No one alive today has ever seen this before. And no one alive today will ever see this again. This is undoubtedly a once in a lifetime opportunity!