Mars Gets Close

[VF2_Rolf]

'On August 27, 2003, the fourth rock from the sun will be less than 55.76 million kilometers (34.65 million miles) away from the Earth.'
[link:www.jpl.nasa.gov/solar_system/features/mars-opposition.cfm|more from JPL...]
A few shots of Mars...the Leonov can be seen in the first picture.
Olympus Mons, the largest know Volcano anywhere, can be seen catching some dawn rays in the last.

Cheers,
Rolf

[link:www.geocities.com/fastheinz39/Saturns_Moons.html|Saturn's Moons]
Gas Giant Upgrades for Orbiter.

[Radooh]

hmm, nice shots but whats that white stuff? i dont suppose theres clouds on mars :-hmmm

[plaincorgi]

That settles it then, i'm going on vacation to mars. :D

[elcamino]

Real Mars Stuff!!!


Something Interesting if you look up at the Stars.....

CLOSE ENCOUNTER WITH MARS - Never again in your lifetime will the Red Planet be so spectacular.

This month and next, earth is catching up with Mars, an encounter that will culminate in the closest approach between the two planets in recorded history. The next time Mars may come this close is in 2287.

Due to the way Jupiter's gravity tugs on Mars and perturbs its orbit, astronomers can only be certain that Mars has not come this close to earth in the last 5,000 years but it may be as long as 60,000 years.

The encounter will culminate on August 27th when Mars comes to within 34,649,589 miles and will be (next to the moon) the brightest object in the sky.

It will attain a magnitude of -2.9 and will appear 25.11 arc seconds wide. At a modest 75-power magnification Mars will look as large as the full moon to the naked eye. Mars will be easy to spot.

At the beginning of August Mars will rise to the east at 10 p.m. and reach its azimuth at about 3 a.m. But by the end of August when the two planets are closest, Mars will rise at nightfall and reach its highest point in the sky at 12:30 a.m.

That's pretty convenient when it comes to seeing something that no human has seen in recorded history. So mark your calendar at the beginning of August to see Mars grow progressively brighter and brighter throughout the month. Share with your children and grandchildren.

No one alive today will ever see this again.


http://www.flightsim.com/cgi/dcforum...ef117e6650.jpg
Are We Having Fun Yet! & Happy Simming.
pSsT! Never Skydive from your flight simulator!

[VF2_Rolf]

Yes....Mars is already a dramatic sight :)

Mars indeed has clouds (CO2 and O2), winds, dust storms, frost and fog (CO2 and o2). The amount of cloud cover and types of clouds depends on how close Mars is to the Sun in its orbit and what season it is (southern summers are warmer). Martian Volcanos are often seen producing huge lee wave clouds that can stretch for hundreds of miles. Mars is now also suspected to have significant amounts of water tied up in permafrost benneath the surface as well as in the ice caps (along with frozen CO2) as the amount of water errosion, especially in the north suggest Mars once had a shallow ancient sea.
Martian Clouds http://www.solarviews.com/eng/marscld.htm#views
http://www.windows.ucar.edu/mars/ima...s_hubble_s.gif
Clouds seen from Hubble
http://www.solarviews.com/thumb/mars/cyclone.gif
A cyclone
http://rst.gsfc.nasa.gov/Sect19/MarsClouds.JPG
Martian clouds from orbit
http://static.howstuffworks.com/gif/mars-clouds.jpg
...from the surface.
http://www.chabotspace.org/vsc/exhib...ds-1-thumb.jpg
Fog
http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/imgcat/hires/mgs_88926.gif
Cirrus probably H2O (northern winter)

Cheers,
Rolf

[Radooh]

hmm, interesting :o

[VF2_Rolf]

Phobos... :)

[Chris03]

I saw mars on a flights from EWR - Manchester (UK) on a Continental 767-400. A little red spec above and to the left of the moon.

[MIKEYORCHIE]

..hmmm I've got a little question here about the whole going into space thing.... you know when they first landed on the moon...well the moon doesn't have any winds.... so... when they put the flag down on the moon.. why does it show in pics that the flag is moving in the wind? ..... do u think the US is trying to hide the fact that they never went to the moon?

as seen here..

http://www.tsgc.utexas.edu/images/sp...7/cernan2.html

[Emirates777]

This is starting to freak me out ...

Why would US hide the fact that they never went to the moon ? :-hmmm