Will Mars be as big as the full moon in August 2011?
Constantly come messages that on August 27, 2011 Mars will be as big as the full Moon in the sky.
It happened again. People require details of such a wonderful spectacle with the red planet Mars. Usually the messages say that on August 27, 2011, Mars will look just like a full moon in the sky. The version I saw myself included a Powerpoint presentation, and it was told that Mars and the Moon would be together like two moons above the earth, and that it would be at the end of August.
Sounds great! Is it even possible?
Not. Not possible All these messages are lies. They appear every summer since 2003. Mars can never look as big as the full moon, moreover, in August 2011 it will not even reach its full brightness.
In August 2011, Mars will look like a moderately bright star on the eastern part of the sky, for a few hours before dawn. Mars will be much brighter next year, shining very strongly on March 5, 2012, when it will be closest to Earth. And even that day, Mars will look just like a bright star, very far from the size and brightness of the full moon. In fact, the last time Mars and the Moon were “like two moons” on January 29, 2010. If you looked at Mars from the earth, then its diameter would be equal to 1⁄140 of the diameter of the full moon.
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Red Planet Mars, shot from the Hubble Space Telescope (NASA)
You would have to line up 140 planets Mars, side to side, so that this line was the same length as the diameter of the moon.
Oh, Mars. The world of dreams and dreams. Mars is a world that rotates one step further than Earth’s orbit. This is a world that is slightly smaller than the Earth, but slightly larger than the Moon. Mars is also much farther than our moon. It is difficult to explain the relationship of these crumbs in the vast space around them, but I will try. Our moon is at a distance of about one light second. Traveling at a speed of 300 thousand kilometers per second, the light reflected from the surface of the moon will reach us in about a second. Meanwhile, the light from Mars will go to the Earth much, much longer - up to 20 minutes. And this time may vary depending on the movement of Mars and the Earth around the Sun. In other words, if Mars is on the same side of the Sun where the Earth is, then the distance from Mars to Earth is much less than when it is on the opposite side.
The moon is much closer than Mars and that is why we see it as a bright disk in the sky. Meanwhile, Mars never looks brighter to the eye than a star.
So where did these Mars-huge-and-bright-as-moon rumors go then? They began with a real event in 2003. On August 27 of that year, Earth and Mars were slightly closer to each other than they had been for the last 60,000 years. Our two worlds were only at a distance of 56 million km - three light minutes. The last people who saw Mars so closely were Neanderthals. It was an extraordinary day and writers-astronomers like me only talked about how close Mars is. Was it an amazing sight? Yes! He looked like a dot of flame in the night sky!
Was Mars as big and bright as the moon then? Never.
But the legend continues ...
Planet Mars will be very bright in the night sky starting in August. Even with the naked eye, the planet will be visible as a full moon. On August 27, Mars will pass only 34.65 thousand miles from the earth! August 27 at 00:30 look at this sight. It will look like two moons above the ground!
It happened again. People require details of such a wonderful spectacle with the red planet Mars. Usually the messages say that on August 27, 2011, Mars will look just like a full moon in the sky. The version I saw myself included a Powerpoint presentation, and it was told that Mars and the Moon would be together like two moons above the earth, and that it would be at the end of August.
Sounds great! Is it even possible?
Not. Not possible All these messages are lies. They appear every summer since 2003. Mars can never look as big as the full moon, moreover, in August 2011 it will not even reach its full brightness.
In August 2011, Mars will look like a moderately bright star on the eastern part of the sky, for a few hours before dawn. Mars will be much brighter next year, shining very strongly on March 5, 2012, when it will be closest to Earth. And even that day, Mars will look just like a bright star, very far from the size and brightness of the full moon. In fact, the last time Mars and the Moon were “like two moons” on January 29, 2010. If you looked at Mars from the earth, then its diameter would be equal to 1⁄140 of the diameter of the full moon.
')
Red Planet Mars, shot from the Hubble Space Telescope (NASA)
You would have to line up 140 planets Mars, side to side, so that this line was the same length as the diameter of the moon.
Oh, Mars. The world of dreams and dreams. Mars is a world that rotates one step further than Earth’s orbit. This is a world that is slightly smaller than the Earth, but slightly larger than the Moon. Mars is also much farther than our moon. It is difficult to explain the relationship of these crumbs in the vast space around them, but I will try. Our moon is at a distance of about one light second. Traveling at a speed of 300 thousand kilometers per second, the light reflected from the surface of the moon will reach us in about a second. Meanwhile, the light from Mars will go to the Earth much, much longer - up to 20 minutes. And this time may vary depending on the movement of Mars and the Earth around the Sun. In other words, if Mars is on the same side of the Sun where the Earth is, then the distance from Mars to Earth is much less than when it is on the opposite side.
The moon is much closer than Mars and that is why we see it as a bright disk in the sky. Meanwhile, Mars never looks brighter to the eye than a star.
So where did these Mars-huge-and-bright-as-moon rumors go then? They began with a real event in 2003. On August 27 of that year, Earth and Mars were slightly closer to each other than they had been for the last 60,000 years. Our two worlds were only at a distance of 56 million km - three light minutes. The last people who saw Mars so closely were Neanderthals. It was an extraordinary day and writers-astronomers like me only talked about how close Mars is. Was it an amazing sight? Yes! He looked like a dot of flame in the night sky!
Was Mars as big and bright as the moon then? Never.
But the legend continues ...
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/126327/
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