Hold on to your hats and keep a pair of binoculars handy: After a 26-month sprint around the track of the solar system, we are about to lap Mars again. Today, the red planet is in “opposition,” an event that puts Earth between Mars and the Sun. On June 21, Mars will be at its closest distance from Earth since 1988, a mere 67.3 million kilometers (approximately 42 million miles). All summer long, Mars will be brighter than usual, particularly for sky-watchers in the southern United States and those in the Southern Hemisphere.
June 13th, 2001
Red letter day for stargazers The Scotsman
IT WAS like something straight out of a science-fiction film – a close encounter of the Martian kind in the form of a bright red disc hovering over the tops of trees and houses. However, while the spectacular sight was expected to trigger a flood of UFO reports last night, the Earth was not about to be invaded by the little green men. The strange red phenomenon was the planet Mars making its closest approach to Earth in more than a dozen years. The planet was a mere 42 million miles away – close enough for the polar ice caps to be seen through a small telescope.
June 12th, 2001
Red Planet Viewer’s Guide: Earth and Mars Converge
By the time you finish reading this sentence, you’ll be over 30 miles (50 kilometers) closer to the Red Planet. Earth and Mars are converging at 22,000 miles per hour (10 kilometers per second) as the pair head for a close encounter this month. On June 21st Mars will lie just 42.3 million miles (68 million kilometers) from Earth — the nearest it’s been in a dozen years.
June 11th, 2001
Mars putting on dazzling show for stargazers
Mars is ready for its close-up. On June 21, Earth and Mars will be about 42 million miles (67.3 million kilometers) apart, the closest the two planets have been since 1988 when they came within 37 million miles (59 million kilometers) of each other. As Earth races toward the red planet at 22,000 mph, Mars appears as a brilliant orange disk, brighter than any other object in its region of the sky — except on nights when the moon is nearby.
June 10th, 2001
Mars offers a rare good view The Columbus Dispatch
Mars is the most frustrating of the planets. The fourth planet from the sun orbits tantalizingly close to the third planet, Earth. Mars isn’t that much farther from the sun than we are, and its climate shows remarkable similarities to Earth’s. For hundreds of years, telescopic observations suggested the possibility of life, perhaps even the intelligent variety. The proximity of the red planet is deceptive, however. Mars is only about 4,100 miles wide, about half the diameter of our planet. Mars is so small it that shows surface features only when Earth is between Mars and the sun, a condition that astronomers call a Mars opposition. As Earth laps Mars in their cosmic race, for a few weeks every 2 1/2 years or so, Mars is only 35 million to 50 million miles from us, and its polar caps and mysterious green markings become visible.
June 5th, 2001
Historic globes go missing
Three valuable, historic globes of the Moon and Mars have been stolen from London’s Science Museum. On 10 May they were locked away, while being photographed for a new exhibition. Five days later, they were discovered missing. Museum officials say that police have started an enquiry. Specialists in old scientific instruments and maps have been told to look out for the globes.
May 30th, 2001
Mars To Spark UFO Sightings
According to a recent report by BBC News, the next few weeks should bring an unusually large number of UFO sightings as Mars passes close to the Earth. Mars will appear as a bright red light hovering over the tops of houses and trees. According to astronomers, many skywatchers are expected to mistake the red planet for some other unearthly body.
May 21st, 2001
Earth and Mars Converge
By the time you finish reading this sentence, you’ll be 30 miles (50 kilometers) closer to the Red Planet. Earth and Mars are converging at 22,000 miles per hour (10 kilometers per second) as the pair head for a close encounter next month. On June 21st Mars will lie just 42.3 million miles (68 million kilometers) from Earth — the nearest it’s been in a dozen years.
May 15th, 2001
The Great Mars Rush
By the time you finish reading this sentence, you’ll be 50 kilometers closer to the Red Planet. Earth and Mars are converging at 10 km/s (22,000 mph) as the pair head for a close encounter next month. On June 21st Mars will lie just 68 million km from Earth — the nearest it’s been in a dozen years.
May 9th, 2001
Ridgeview student wins science fair The Florida Times-Union
Lee Yaracs, a Ridgeview High School junior, wants to go to college and become an astronomer to study the stars that have long intrigued him. “I have always been really interested in astronomy,” he said. “I’ve always been interested in stars.” Yaracs, 17, won the grand prize for the latest version of his project studying seed growth and development in low-gravity environments such as that of the moon and Mars. He beat out more than 900 other students from across the state to win the top award, which comes with cash and other prizes.