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Mars glows, no need for Rudolph's nose
Yahoo News ^
| December 230, 2007
| Seth Borenstein, Science Writer
Posted on 12/23/2007 7:38:05 PM PST by Clintonfatigued
Mars will be unusually bright this Christmas Eve and the moon will be shining full a development that might make Santa Claus rethink his need for Rudolph's red nose.
That idea, from Miami Space Transit Planetarium director Jack Horkheimer, made us wonder if retooling a certain reindeer song is the best way to explain it to the kids:
Mars is a red-tinged planet
With a very shiny glow
And if you look to see it
You will find the moon in tow.
The red planet will shine brighter because it will be directly opposite the sun, reflecting the most light, and fairly close to Earth, only 55.5 million miles away. The full moon will appear nearby, rising about an hour later, said Horkheimer, host of the public television show "Star Gazer."
(Excerpt) Read more at news.yahoo.com ...
TOPICS: Unclassified
KEYWORDS: astronomy; christmas; christmaseve; mars
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To: Clintonfatigued
Rudolph has been fired...
2
posted on
12/23/2007 7:43:53 PM PST
by
SandRat
(Duty, Honor, Country. What else needs to be said?)
To: Molly Pitcher
An out of this world ping.
3
posted on
12/23/2007 7:45:54 PM PST
by
Dog
To: Clintonfatigued
Mars is right next to the moon tonight if anyone wants to go out and take a look.
4
posted on
12/23/2007 7:47:38 PM PST
by
Moonman62
(The issue of whether cheap labor makes America great should have been settled by the Civil War.)
To: Clintonfatigued
I bought one of those computerized telescopes for my Christmas present. My timing is perfect!
5
posted on
12/23/2007 7:49:11 PM PST
by
chesty_puller
(70-73 USMC VietNam 75-79 US Army Wash DC....VietNam was safer.)
To: Moonman62
“Mars is right next to the moon tonight if anyone wants to go out and take a look.”
Saw it on the way home from church. Pretty cool.
6
posted on
12/23/2007 7:49:54 PM PST
by
swmobuffalo
(The only good terrorist is a dead terrorist.)
To: Clintonfatigued
ONLY 55.5 million miles away. Jeez
7
posted on
12/23/2007 8:04:49 PM PST
by
wastedyears
("I prefer dangerous freedom over peaceful slavery." - Thomas Jefferson)
To: Moonman62
It’s out right now?!?!??!!?
8
posted on
12/23/2007 8:05:10 PM PST
by
wastedyears
("I prefer dangerous freedom over peaceful slavery." - Thomas Jefferson)
To: wastedyears
Go outside!
unless you have clouds, it is very visible.
9
posted on
12/23/2007 8:06:40 PM PST
by
Jet Jaguar
(Who would the terrorists vote for?)
To: Jet Jaguar
Coooooooooooooooool, I’ll brb
10
posted on
12/23/2007 8:08:18 PM PST
by
wastedyears
("I prefer dangerous freedom over peaceful slavery." - Thomas Jefferson)
To: Jet Jaguar
I just looked outside. It's snowing. Nothing but clouds and snow flakes. A white Christmas is guaranteed this year. The forecast calls for 2 to 4 inches on top of what is already on the ground.
11
posted on
12/23/2007 8:11:07 PM PST
by
Myrddin
To: Myrddin
I am sorry you missed it. It was a great alignment.
12
posted on
12/23/2007 8:12:55 PM PST
by
Jet Jaguar
(Who would the terrorists vote for?)
To: Clintonfatigued
The Moon was definitely incredibly bright. But Mars was very much so, so much that I was able to see it penetrate thin cloud cover without any aid to my eye.
13
posted on
12/23/2007 8:43:25 PM PST
by
wastedyears
("I prefer dangerous freedom over peaceful slavery." - Thomas Jefferson)
To: Moonman62
Watced Mars & the moon ‘pass’ each other tonight. Wasn’t certain if Mars would be occulted or not. It was close, but didn’t happen.
Since it is well below freezing, with about 4 “ of snow still on the ground, most of the watching was through the kitchen window.
At moon rise, Mars was at about the 7 o’clock position.
An hour or so later, mars was at 5 o’clock.
At just past 7 PM MST, Mars was hanging exactly at 3 o’clock
By 8:30 MST, Mars was about 2 o’clock, and opening the gap between them considerably.
Really highlights the approx 55 minute/day change in the moon’s rising time.
If you squint at the right side of the moon, you can see Mars. You may have to blow it up a bit to see it.
14
posted on
12/23/2007 10:03:13 PM PST
by
ApplegateRanch
(If God didn't want a Liberal/RINO hanging from every tree, He wouldn't have created so much rope!)
To: ApplegateRanch
Thanks for the report. I can see mars in the picture fine and it looks like it was about half a moon width away from the edge so that would be about a quarter of a degree. The moon moves pretty fast and when it gets close to a star or planet one can almost sense that movement by checking it out every half hour or so.
15
posted on
12/23/2007 10:13:41 PM PST
by
Moonman62
(The issue of whether cheap labor makes America great should have been settled by the Civil War.)
To: Moonman62
The moon moves pretty fast and when it gets close to a star or planet one can almost sense that movement by checking it out every half hour or so. That is for sure.
I should have attached my 1.7 telephoto lens, instead of just using the built in 3X zoom.
I saw on another thread that the moon did occult Mars for observers in parts of Europe.
16
posted on
12/23/2007 10:25:41 PM PST
by
ApplegateRanch
(If God didn't want a Liberal/RINO hanging from every tree, He wouldn't have created so much rope!)
To: retrokitten
Mars is bright tonight, unusually bright - Ronan...
17
posted on
12/23/2007 10:26:32 PM PST
by
null and void
(I've always liked Ron Paul, he is not a like a serial rapist. - rovenstinez)
To: null and void
And we know how that turned out! ;-)
18
posted on
12/25/2007 5:11:51 PM PST
by
retrokitten
("I guess this isn't the right economic climate for an expensive, poorly-trained visionary.")
To: Clintonfatigued
December won’t even get close to 230 days, but the moon is a couple days past full and it is cloudy anyway. Probably going to snow a little. Missed the occultation. How did it go?
19
posted on
12/25/2007 5:13:49 PM PST
by
RightWhale
(Dean Koonz is good, but my favorite authors are Dun and Bradstreet)
To: ApplegateRanch
It’s been about zero the past couple days, which is better than the -20 to -40 it was last week, but they sky just hasn’t been clear at the right times. When it’s zero we can live outdoors. At -40 we are limited to a couple hours and then the dog begins to complain.
20
posted on
12/25/2007 5:16:26 PM PST
by
RightWhale
(Dean Koonz is good, but my favorite authors are Dun and Bradstreet)
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