Download Check it out, guess no one will get much sleep in August. Mars

The Mars Opposition
of August 2003
The Spectacular Red Planet!
 During July and August 2003, Earth was catching up with Mars
in an encounter that culminated in the closest approach
between the two planets in recorded history.
 The next time Mars will come even near 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 before this close an approach happens again.
 The encounter culminated on August 27, 2003, when
Mars came within 34,649,589 miles of Earth.
 That night, the Red Planet had attained a magnitude of -2.9 and
appeared 25.11 arc seconds wide.
 At that time, Mars was (next to the moon) the brightest object in
the night sky.
 Through a telescope, at a modest 75-power magnification, Mars
appeared to have the same angular size as the full moon seen
with the naked eye.
Mars at 75x in a telescope
Moon viewed with no magnification
In August 2003,
through a telescope at 75 power magnification,
Mars looked as large as the full moon as seen by the naked eye.
In August 2003, Mars was an easy to spot.
At the beginning of August 2003, it rose in the east at 10
p.m. and reached its azimuth at about 3 a.m.
By the end of August 2003, when the two planets were
closest, Mars rose at nightfall and reached its highest
point in the sky at 12:30a.m. That's a pretty convenient
angle to see something that no human being had ever
before seen in recorded history.
It was a spectacular sight, during the month of August
2003, watching Mars grow progressively brighter and
brighter throughout the month.
AFTER AUGUST 2003,
you, your children and your grandchildren, in fact,
NO ONE ALIVE TODAY
WILL EVER SEE MARS THIS CLOSE AGAIN.
I hope you saw Mars in 2003,
because it was spectacular!
But bear in mind: If you are reading this presentation, it is
no longer 2003, and this event is HISTORY.
The next close opposition of Mars will be in July 2018. It
will be almost as good!
Mars Opposition Data
Date of
Date
Opposition
UT
L_hel
RA
Dec m_max Closest
UT dist AU
Mkm
diam
1999 Apr 24 17:38 214:06 14:09 -11:37 -1.67 1999 May 01 17:28 0.57846
86.54 16.18
2001 Jun 13 17:59 262:46 17:28 -26:30 -2.36 2001 Jun 21 22:57 0.45017
67.34 20.79
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------2003 Aug 28 17:59 335:01 22:38 -15:49 -2.88 2003 Aug 27 09:52 0.37272
55.76 25.11
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------2005 Nov 07 07:59
45:01 02:51 +15:54 -2.33 2005 Oct 30 03:26 0.46406
69.42 20.19
2007 Dec 24 19:47
92:46 06:12 +26:46 -1.64 2007 Dec 18 23:47 0.58935
88.17 15.88
2010 Jan 29 19:37 129:39 08:54 +22:09 -1.28 2010 Jan 27 19:02 0.66398
99.33 14.10
2012 Mar 03 20:04 163:29 11:52 +10:17 -1.23 2012 Mar 05 17:01 0.67368 100.78 13.89
2014 Apr 08 20:57 198:44 13:14 -05:08 -1.48 2014 Apr 14 12:54 0.61756
92.39 15.16
2016 May 22 11:11 241:34 15:58 -21:39 -2.06 2016 May 30 21:36 0.50321
75.28 18.60
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------2018 Jul 27 05:07 303:53 20:33 -25:30 -2.78 2018 Jul 31 07:51 0.38496
57.59 24.31
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Information provided by SEDS, Students for Exploration and Development of Space
http://seds.org/~spider/spider/Mars/marsopps.html
 This presentation has been edited
and updated by Ed Flaspoehler of
the American Association of Amateur
Astronomers
www.AstroMax.com