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The Mars Opposition of August 2003

The Spectacular Red Planet!. The Mars Opposition of August 2003. During July and August 2003, Earth was catching up with Mars in an  encounter that culminated in the closest  approach between the two planets in recorded  history. The next time Mars will come even near this close is in 2287.

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The Mars Opposition of August 2003

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  1. The Spectacular Red Planet! The Mars Opposition of August 2003

  2. During July and August 2003, Earth was catching up with Mars in an  encounter thatculminated in the closest  approach between the two planets in recorded  history. The next time Mars will come even near 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 before this close an approach happens again. The encounter culminated on August 27, 2003, whenMars came within 34,649,589 miles of Earth. That night, the Red Planet had attained a magnitude of -2.9 and appeared 25.11 arc seconds wide. At that time, Mars was (next to the moon) the brightest object in the night sky. Through a telescope,at a modest 75-power magnification, Mars appeared to have the same angular size as the full moon seen with the naked eye.

  3. Mars at 75x in a telescope Moon viewed with no magnification In August 2003,through a telescope at 75 power magnification,Mars looked as large as the full moon as seen by the naked eye.

  4. In August 2003, Mars was an easy to spot. At the beginning of August 2003, it rose in the east at 10 p.m. and reached its azimuth at about 3 a.m. By the end of August 2003, when the two planets were closest, Mars rose at nightfall and reached its highest point in the sky at 12:30a.m. That's a pretty convenient angle to see something that no human being had ever before seen in recorded history. It was a spectacular sight, during the month of August 2003, watching Mars grow progressively brighter and brighter throughout the month.

  5. AFTER AUGUST 2003, you, your children and your grandchildren, in fact,NO ONE ALIVE TODAY WILL EVER SEE MARS THIS CLOSE AGAIN. I hope you saw Mars in 2003, because it was spectacular! But bear in mind: If you are reading this presentation, it is no longer 2003, and this event is HISTORY. The next close opposition of Mars will be in July 2018. It will be almost as good!

  6. Mars Opposition Data Date of Date Opposition UT L_hel RA Dec m_max Closest UT dist AU Mkm diam 1999 Apr 24 17:38 214:06 14:09 -11:37 -1.67 1999 May 01 17:28 0.57846 86.54 16.18 2001 Jun 13 17:59 262:46 17:28 -26:30 -2.36 2001 Jun 21 22:57 0.45017 67.34 20.79 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2003 Aug 28 17:59 335:01 22:38 -15:49 -2.88 2003 Aug 27 09:52 0.37272 55.76 25.11 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2005 Nov 07 07:59 45:01 02:51 +15:54 -2.33 2005 Oct 30 03:26 0.46406 69.42 20.19 2007 Dec 24 19:47 92:46 06:12 +26:46 -1.64 2007 Dec 18 23:47 0.58935 88.17 15.88 2010 Jan 29 19:37 129:39 08:54 +22:09 -1.28 2010 Jan 27 19:02 0.66398 99.33 14.10 2012 Mar 03 20:04 163:29 11:52 +10:17 -1.23 2012 Mar 05 17:01 0.67368 100.78 13.89 2014 Apr 08 20:57 198:44 13:14 -05:08 -1.48 2014 Apr 14 12:54 0.61756 92.39 15.16 2016 May 22 11:11 241:34 15:58 -21:39 -2.06 2016 May 30 21:36 0.50321 75.28 18.60 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2018 Jul 27 05:07 303:53 20:33 -25:30 -2.78 2018 Jul 31 07:51 0.38496 57.59 24.31 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Information provided by SEDS, Students for Exploration and Development of Space http://seds.org/~spider/spider/Mars/marsopps.html • This presentation has been edited and updated by Ed Flaspoehler of the American Association of Amateur Astronomers www.AstroMax.com

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