HOT!! WIN A PIECE OF MARS OR A 12" MONSTER!!

[yhelothar]

soon in september.. mars will be closest to earth in 50,000 years!! astronomics is having a giveaway that will bring you closer to mars(right into your hands )
ENTER HERE!

 

[weepul]

12" monster? i'm thinking of plushies... turns out to be a telescope. hehe.

//krunk (^_^x)

 

[Rupster]

cool. I'm in for that first telescope. It was a rough choice between that & the chunk of the red planet.

 

[fargus]

Caught ya... ya thought this was a porn post eh?

 

[froinlaven]

I've already got a 12" monster!!!

 

[BigEdMuustaffa]

I'm trying to decide which contest to enter, which one gives me the better chance of winning. This one or the multi-state lotteries...

 

[skarydrunkguy]

It feels like I'm repeating myself again. This is a contest. Post it in the contest board. Contests, sweepstakes, lotterys, and raffles are NEVER hot deals. You'd figure after 500+ posts and who knows how long as a lurker before that some people would learn.

 

[Techie333]

Originally posted by: skarydrunkguy
It feels like I'm repeating myself again. This is a contest. Post it in the contest board. Contests, sweepstakes, lotterys, and raffles are NEVER hot deals. You'd figure after 500+ posts and who knows how long as a lurker before that some people would learn.

 

[TheDon]

I thought it was over 70,000 years?

 

[Mike7]

On August 27, 2003, at 9:51 UTC, the centers of Earth and Mars will be only 55,758,006 kilometers (34,646,418 miles) apart. The U.S. Naval Observatory?s MICA software and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory?s DE406 planetary ephemeris agree on this value for the true geometric distance.

According to a calculation by the Association of Lunar and Planetary Observers' Jeffrey Beish and James DeYoung, Mars came a little closer to Earth in 57,537 BC. Aldo Vitagliano, an expert in computational celestial mechanics at the University of Naples, Italy, has confirmed that there was indeed a close approach in the year 57,538 BC (not 57,537 BC), but it did not quite beat the AD 2003 value.

Vitagliano?s calculation took about three hours on an 800mhz computer, and it involved a simultaneous numerical integration of the motions of all nine planets, the Earth's moon, and three major asteroids (Ceres, Pallas, and Vesta). At first he adopted JPL?s DE406 as the starting point; then he repeated the calculation using JPL?s earlier DE200. He also tried omitting the asteroids and Pluto to see if that would make a significant difference ? it didn't. Vitagliano concludes that the last time Mars came so close was in 57,617 BC, when it passed within 55.718 million km of Earth, a little closer than this year?s 55.758 million km.

So the upcoming approach is the closest in 59,620 years.

However, an even closer approach than this one will take place in 2287.

In terms of visual astronomy, of course, even a difference of a million km is pretty much insignificant. So it's not like Mars is going to look any more detailed at this approach than it does at the typical close approach.

Still, Mars is sure to be a popular target at star parties and public observing sessions later this summer.

Personally, I find Jupiter and Saturn to be much more interesting planetary subjects than is Mars. But to each his own.

To find an astronomy club near you (so that you can go to a public viewing session and look at stuff through other people's telescopes, without going into debt to buy your own $5000 scope which you might not even know how to use), click here.

To read a little more about observing Mars, click here.

If you're anywhere near Harrisburg, PA, the Astronomical Society of Harrisburg has free public viewing sessions every Sunday this summer (weather permitting). For details, click here.

 

[Mike7]

So the upcoming approach is the closest in 59,620 years.

Make that 59,619 years. I forgot that in calculating dates, we jump right from 1 BC to 1 AD, without stopping at a Year 0.

 

[yhelothar]

who cares if it's visually better or it...

you can win a free telescope or a free peice of mars...

that's what the deal is about...

IMO.. mars is much more fun to look at.. jupiter just looks like a white circle with faint stripes of clouds... same with saturn..

mars you can actually see terrain detail, icecaps, mountains, etc..

 

[Mike7]

Originally posted by: virtualgames0
IMO.. mars is much more fun to look at.. jupiter just looks like a white circle with faint stripes of clouds... same with saturn..

mars you can actually see terrain detail, icecaps, mountains, etc..

You're certainly entitled to your opinion.

However, Mars - even at its closest approach to Earth - subtends barely 25 seconds of arc. Jupiter appears nearly twice as large. Big advantage to Jupiter, right there. (Jupiter, at a relatively modest 36 power, appears as large as the full moon does to the naked eye.)

Yes, one can see Mars' ice caps. But terrain detail is usually illusive to the point of invisibility. So illusive that even looking at Mars through telescopes far larger than most amateurs can afford, the finest planetary observers of their time couldn't even determine whether channels truly existed. And sketches of the planet varied wildly in terms of apparent surface features.

Nor can you see Mars' mountains through your backyard telescope. Sorry.

Jupiter, on the other hand, will show multiple bands of differing hues and brightnesses, even in a small telescope. In a slightly larger scope, details such as festoons, the Great Red Spot, and so on are readily visible. Moreover, these features change very rapidly - often over the course of a few hours - so Jupiter is a much more active subject than Mars, whose changes (in size of ice caps and the occasional global dust storm blotting out all surface detail) generally require days to weeks for one to fully appreciate.

Whereas Mars' two tiny moons are essentially invisible to anything short of a very large telescope, Jupiter's four largest moons will regularly and visibly transit the planet's face, casting shadows upon Jupiter. They will also be eclipsed by the planet, suddenly winking out as they pass into Jupiter's shadow, and then winking back into visibility upon reemerging. Every so often, one moon will even move in front of or behind another, in a mutual event. Watching these moons is itself a popular pastime for many amateur astronomers.

As for Saturn, it appears smaller than Jupiter, although still huge by Mars standards. And its cloud belts are more subdued, its moons slightly less interesting to watch. But it's got rings, man. I've shown Saturn to countless people over the years, and none fail to be impressed at their first sight of it through a telescope. It's probably second only to the moon, for sheer "Wow!" response.

But hey, to each his own.

you can win a free telescope or a free peice of mars...

that's what the deal is about...

Don't be silly; that's not a deal at all. It's a contest.

"Submit an entry for a chance to win a telescope or a piece of meteorite" is a contest.

"Use this coupon for a 30% discount on your purchase of a telescope or piece of meteorite" is a deal.