[extropy-chat] [ASTRO/BS] Mars as big as the moon?

spike spike66 at comcast.net
Thu Jun 9 03:03:39 UTC 2005



> -----Original Message-----
> From: extropy-chat-bounces at lists.extropy.org [mailto:extropy-chat-
> bounces at lists.extropy.org] On Behalf Of Damien Broderick
> Sent: Wednesday, June 08, 2005 4:32 PM
> To: ExI chat list
> Subject: Re: [extropy-chat] [ASTRO/BS] Mars as big as the moon?
> 
> At 04:08 PM 6/8/2005 -0700, AG wrote:
> 
> >The encounter will culminate on August 27th when Mars
> >comes to within
> >34,649,589 miles of Earth and will be (next to the
> >moon) the brightest
> >object in the night sky. It will attain a magnitude of
> >-2.9 and will appear
> >25.11 arc seconds wide. At a modest 75-power
> >magnification
> >
> >By August 27, Mars will look as large as the full moon
> >to the naked eye.
> 
> Let's think about this for a fraction of a second. At perigee and
> opposition, Mars is said above to be 25.11 arc seconds wide. The Moon's
> apparent width averages 1800 arc seconds in diameter.
> 

Ja, 25 * 75 = 1875,  Sounds about right to me.  If you go out
with a good telescope, be aware that upper atmospheric turbulence
spoils your fun on most nights.  spike




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