Tonight I'll be 39 Miles from Mars

[LittleBigFoot]

The orbits are lineing up just right that Mars will look to be the size of the Moon tonight.

It's suppose to happen at 12:30 tonight, (Mountain Time)

Mars will be 39 metric miles away.

The next time this is going to happen is 2287

Check it out if you're up.

I'm pullin out the tripod and I'm going to take some time laps photos. I'll throw em up here if any wants to see 'em.


Adam

[jmzneal]

please do...and elaberate by 37 miles away... that's cool and interesting

[JoshT]

Please post the pics, that'll be around 2 am here and I gotta be asleep then.

[mitch4x4]

Actually guys that is a hoax that was started in 2003. I just heard it on our local news tonight i didn't know anything about it but they said mars is not going to be any closer than usual.

[MAKG]

And it NEVER -- let me repeat that -- NEVER NEVER NEVER NEVER in 5 billion years will EVER appear as big as the moon from Earth.

This should be the first clue it's bullpoop. Assuming one actually looks at the night sky once in a while. The only extraterrestrial object in the universe that appears as big as the moon from Earth is the Sun. By a lot.

And there is no such thing as a "metric mile." WTF? Someone forgot their meds?

[LittleBigFoot]

I'm just spitting back up what my teachers told me... I'll still be out there tonight anyways. I'll still try to get some sweet shots of what ever, and I'll be in the dark room all day tomorrow.

I've learned never to expect the norm, and tonight i was hopeing for something different. We'll see.

And even if it [truely] is a hoax, well then they did a damn good job cause it's gotten a lot of news coverage in my neck of the world.




Adam


PS. Even if it is a hoax, it's at least a good reason to curl up with yer lady friend in the back of yer truck.

[krugford]

no, let him take his pics, it might give a good laugh

[ozzwoman9]

I'll I have heard is lunar eclipse:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070826/ap_on_sc/lunar_eclipse;_ylt=AnXugtvKYxYuK093ejnOOqQPLBIF

[Mac]

Lunar Eclipse, Best seen on the West coast! Supposed to be a great sight if you are out in that area. 39 metric miles away, think the world would all end. I'd look for better teachers or pay more attention in class. If it ever appeared as big as the moon, you'd have about 1.2 seconds to kiss your ass good by!
Dave

[Jspafford]

I think I will just wait until the next time it happens to check it out. I may be in a wheelchair by then and have nothing better to do.....:icon_rofl:

By all means man if you see something worth taking a picture of, go for it. Maybe there will be something different and everyone will thank you for the shots.

[MAKG]

39 metric miles away, think the world would all end.
Yeah, an object half the size of the earth orbiting 1/10,000 the distance of the moon would be generating 100 km tides. Not a good thing... Not to mention it would be REALLY hard to keep that 39 miles from getting a bit smaller. That's inside the atmosphere.

Teachers aren't ultimate authorities. Taking information uncritically from any source means you aren't thinking. Bad lesson for any student. If you didn't THINK about what you were told, that you repeated nonsense is YOUR fault. Even if it came from authority.

[JohnnyO]

Bah, I only live about 10 regular miles from Mars.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mars%2C_Pennsylvania

:icon_twisted:

[egnorant]

The correct figure is nearer 34 MILLION miles away.

Bruce

[LittleBigFoot]

What ever. I thought it was too far out to be true, and it was told to me in passing... so yes, I should have thought more about that. I'm an ass.

Once again, my bad.

[LittleBigFoot]

Bah, I only live about 10 regular miles from Mars.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mars%2C_Pennsylvania

:icon_twisted:

Thats damn funny right there

[ZMan]

What ever. I thought it was too far out to be true, and it was told to me in passing... so yes, I should have thought more about that. I'm an ass.

Once again, my bad.

eh I wouldn't say you're an ass, I'd say your teacher is an ass and needs to read more astronomy related material (credible that is).

[LittleBigFoot]

no, let him take his pics, it might give a good laugh

Wait, are you joking about the first mistake I made about thinking Mars was gonna be wicked huge tonight? Or taking pictures in the dark?

[Mutant Pony]

It is too cloudy here to see anything. I'll keep looking though.

[LittleBigFoot]

Yeah Mutant Pony, we've got some cloud cover here, but it's startin to blow over.

[MAKG]

You can take pictures in the dark with a long enough exposure.

However, earth's rotation starts to be a problem after not very long. That's why (decent) telescopes have equatorial mounts and motor drives. This is essentially the difference between a camera and a small refracting telescope. Focus on infinity and blast away. You WILL need a tripod and remote shutter.

[LittleBigFoot]

My dad was a pro photographer for twenty years. I've got it all. Photography is my other hobby

[LIMA BEAN]

I will be out scoping the eclipse tonite up here in Alaska. I have a 900MM FL X 4.5 D scope on a equitorial mount. Should be pretty cool.

[LittleBigFoot]

Well, we had tons of cloud cover till 2ish in my neck of the woods. When they cleared, we were able to sight Mars, but it was nothing spectacular. The only way we got a "good" look is cause some dude brought his telescope. It was still pretty fun tho.

Hahaha, maybe we'll just have to wait till 2287 to see if this one is true, lol

[ryan]

Bah, I only live about 10 regular miles from Mars.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mars%2C_Pennsylvania

:icon_twisted:

when i was in first or second grade my family was driving somewhere on vacation and we drove through there. i remember saying i went through mars and people denied it existed. i have no idea why i still remember that

[jv982]

Yeah this is an old hoax. Check out snopes: http://www.snopes.com/science/mars.asp


Y
However, earth's rotation starts to be a problem after not very long. That's why (decent) telescopes have equatorial mounts and motor drives.

You are fully of all sorts of interesting, and useless information. :icon_thumby:

[krugford]

Wait, are you joking about the first mistake I made about thinking Mars was gonna be wicked huge tonight? Or taking pictures in the dark?

I was talking about the bigger than life Mars thing. If you are in a position to get a pic of the lunar eclipse, then that would be sweet.

[LittleBigFoot]

Oh, ok. I didn't know what to respond to Krugford. We had too much cloud cover during the eclipse. I slept through class all day cause we were out so late. I'm was bummed.

[MAKG]

Well, such is the risk astronomers take every time they go observing (except with spaceborne telescopes). At least you have dark skies within 1000 miles, unlike quite a lot of people on this board. I seem to recall a permanent amateur astronomer site on the top of Mt. Evans. Buy a red flashlight and contact your local astronomy club. It's a good bet there will be SOMEthing going on there when dark nights resume in about a week. Any dry site well away from city lights works, but it's best to have a site withlow horizons and high altitude. There ought to be a billion good spots off some county road a few dozen miles east of I-25, well north or south of Denver.

[JohnnyO]

You are fully of all sorts of interesting, and useless information. :icon_thumby:
That's what MAKG brings to the table, and it is great. :icon_thumby:

[Will]

I was up for the eclispe. I drug the kids out of bed and we all sat out and watched from about 10 minutes before the earth started to cover the moon until the moon set--about 40 minutes after the whole thing went dark.

I took several pictures--one is my avatar, but it was with my 10x optical zoom digital camera. Hard to get clear shots after 4 cups of coffee but I'll put the best here in order...click for full size.

270271272273274

[MAKG]

VERY nice for a handheld camera. Even got the earthlight.

I take it images of totality were blurred due to long exposures.

[Will]

I think they would have been alright but I was getting pretty tired by then. I played with all of the functions on the camera and ended up on the setting with a mountain icon. I don't know what that means but the one I thought would be best--the dude running icon, was the worst.

It was like being back on the pistol range--breathing control and squeeze the button so you don't screw up the shot. I deleted dozens of pictures of the moon racing around with trails behind it and multiple moons.

It was fun and the kids always seem to remember doing things better if you snap some pictures.

[Jspafford]

I think they would have been alright but I was getting pretty tired by then. I played with all of the functions on the camera and ended up on the setting with a mountain icon. I don't know what that means but the one I thought would be best--the dude running icon, was the worst.

It was like being back on the pistol range--breathing control and squeeze the button so you don't screw up the shot. I deleted dozens of pictures of the moon racing around with trails behind it and multiple moons.

It was fun and the kids always seem to remember doing things better if you snap some pictures.


The mountain icon is for 'distant' shots, the guy running is for 'action' shots.

[MAKG]

And it's hard to get more distant than any astronomical object.

Real telescopes focus on "infinity."

If you want to get fancy (and if your camera supports it), depth of focus is utterly unimportant due to the extreme distances. So, you crank the aperture wide open and let the shutter speed be determined automatically (for the moon), or set it to manual shutter and time it with a stopwatch. Make sure the flash is off (or any nearby observers will wrap your gonads around your neck).