MARS.

[Judy Harder]

I am wondering if any of you late night owls have noticed the planet Mars.
This ole lady doesn't stay up, unless mother nature has me up and I would if I knew what
time that Mars is seen.

Which part of the sky is it in? I hear it is suppose to be next to the moon, but when the moon isn't out will we see it?
I was hoping that seeing the planet, would put it on the news.......after all it is making news in our time (well anyones time) since no one has ever, ever seen it before.

Any of you science teachers/or history buffs know. I figure Waldo and Frank may know........just asking.
God bless you!

[Roma Jean Turner]

I bet that is what I was admiring the other night.  It was so bright and beautiful...."Like A Diamond In The Sky".

[dnalexander]

Just as a note on viewing Mars this hoax seems to be circulating again. Here is a post from space.com from May 2009.

Mars Hoax Circulates: 'Big as the Moon!'
By Joe Rao
SPACE.com Skywatching Columnist
posted: 19 May 2009
02:37 pm ET

Once again it appears that a Mars hoax that has widely circulated through the Internet since its first appearance during the summer of 2004 has begun to circulate yet again. It comes in the form of an e-mail message titled "Mars Spectacular," which originated from an unknown source.

In turn, this message has gotten passed on to others who couldn't resist forwarding it to their entire address book.

The e-mail declares that on the night of Aug. 27, the planet Mars will come closer to Earth than it has in the past 60,000 years, thereby offering spectacular views of the Red Planet.  The commentary even proclaims, with liberal use of exclamation marks, that Mars will appear as bright as (or as large as) the full moon.

The problem is that "Aug. 27" is actually Aug. 27, 2003. Mars made a historically close pass by Earth that night (34.6 million miles, or 55.7 million km). The Hubble Space Telescope used the opportunity to make a great photo of Mars. But even then, to the naked eye Mars appeared as nothing more than an extremely bright yellowish-orange star, not at all like the full moon.

This year, Mars is actually much dimmer and far-less conspicuous than in 2003.

You can find Mars in the early morning sky right now, however, located not far from the dazzling planet, Venus. This week, the moon serves as a guide to spotting the red planet -- and you can easily compare them to see just how different they appear in size.

"In the past, the rapid spread of this information was like some sort of brain info-virus, and led to at least one daily newspaper comic that showed Mars crashing into a home while the husband and wife were indoors, debating how close the planet will come," said Neil deGrasse Tyson, director of New York's Hayden Planetarium.

In terms of actual size, Mars (approximately 4,213 miles, or 6,780 km. in diameter) is almost twice the size of our moon (about 2,160 miles, or 3,475 km).  But the great distance between Mars and Earth never allows it to appear anywhere near as large as the moon in our sky.

The average distance of the moon from Earth is 238,000 miles (382,900 km).  So for Mars to appear to loom as large as the Moon does from Earth, it would have to be about twice the Moon's distance, or roughly 476,000 miles (766,000 km.).

In fact, right now the red planet remains is 189 million miles (304 million km)  from Earth.

So, plain and simple, if you have already received this infamous Mars E-mail -- or eventually receive it this summer -- be advised that it is totally bogus.

http://www.space.com/spacewatch/090519-mars-hoax.html

[jensarlou]

Judy,
I work nights and I regularly see Venus and Jupiter in the morning sky.  I am in FL so around 5 to 6 am or so Jupiter is in the southwestern sky and Venus is in the eastern sky.  If your are awake between 4 and 5 am your time they sure are nice to see.  Also with a good pair of binnoculars you can see 3 of Jupiters moons.
Andrea

[Clubine Ranch]

It is right at nine o'clock and Mars is really nicely in view from my patio. Of course we are pretty much open country so I don't know if you can see it yet, in Longton. Hope so, as it is kind of neat to see. Barbara

[dnalexander]

I would also like to add: Judy if you are up tonight still take a look at Mars. While many of its mysteries may not be visible to the naked eye there are many important things we are learning from Mars through telescopes, Mars lander etc. It is worth a look just for the possibilities and the fact we can see it no matter how small. Also, I will be up the next couple of days watching the Perseid meteor showers too. I started viewing the heavens by eve, moved to a good pair of binoculars, and now use a very good computerized telescope that I got at a garage sale for $60 way under its original $1000 dollar price. There are many telescopes that sit in a closet that are never used and you can get for cheap. Even a pair of cheap binoculars opens up much of the universe. No matter how you look at it it is truly spectacular to ponder the heavens.

David

[sixdogsmom]

Me too! Gonna have my own party with the stars. I have spent many hours watching the meteor showers; they say this year should be a good one for Persieds as there will be little interference from the moon. It looks like tonight may be a little cloudy, but the optimum viewing time is tomorrow and it is supposed to be clear. This is a great family activity and costs nothing.

[dnalexander]

David, is Eve a red head too? How close were you? Was this before the current red head in your life?   D

That should read "eye". I think that was a typo and not a Freudian slip.

David

[Clubine Ranch]

Up at four in the morning and went outside to see the meteor shower. The stars were not all that bright but did get to see a few meteors fall, definetly not a shower but still pretty neat. I presume it was the planet Mars above and a little to the south and it was dazzling compared to the stars. Beautiful night on the prairie observing the great heavens above. Hope others got to enjoy it. Barbara

[sixdogsmom]

I drove out to the lake last night about 10:00 PM; unloaded my chair, blanket for underfoot, ham and cheese sandwich on a hardroll, and adult beverage. It was a gorgeous night with just enough breeze to keep the mosquitos away. I saw quite a few meteors within the first 20 minutes, some of which were spectacular. As the moon started to rise the meteors were fewer and further between, but the moonrise itself was worth a watch. It rose reddish and large for a half-moon I thought. Altogether a pleasant outing, and I was home by midnight with all my dogs scratching their heads wondering where on earth I had gone so late in the day?