From Aceh with love

Several years ago, there might still remember, when busy talking about that Mars will approach Earth to the size of the Moon, of course not!

It is true that in orbit around the Sun, both Earth and Mars at one time was in a position to each other, because the trajectory of Earth, Mars, is not a perfect circle, but the form of an elliptical path, with the sun at one focal point of the ellipse.

Earth moves around the Sun faster than Mars, and every 26 months, Earth will be preceded by the path of Mars, and then, when the Sun-Earth-Mars is on the strip, known as the opposition of Mars. Thus, the opposition of Mars will always occur every 26 months, and usually at the time that the opposition, Earth and Mars are in a position adjacent to each other.

Simulation of the position of Earth-Mars & Sun you can find here

The distance between Earth and Mars are not always the same every opposition, because the orbit of Mars is slightly more oval, then the nearest distance between Earth and Mars are not always appropriate when the opposition, but always being around the time the opposition, the dispute a few days from the time his opposition. And usually, when approaching each other, then Mars will appear bright and luminous, more red, more clearly visible, both observed to use the eye, binoculars or telescopes, but certainly, not be reached for the Moon!

Because of the unique geometry, then every place closest distance between the Earth-Mars (which was berperiode 26 months), will never be the same from one event to the next event. In the event the opposition of Mars in 2003, known as the Mars event in the closest position (close-close) with the Earth, distances are calculated as the nearest 55,758,006 km, the diameter was about 25 “; and this phenomenon can only occur every 60 thousand years . Big is it? For the lucky observed at the time, Mars is still the same as has been observed Martian our ancestors, with the naked eye, still a bright red speck in the sky. Even with the telescope though, not much changed kenampakannya, only, the details seem a little bit more.

And then, in early 2010, through 26-month cycle of the next (after 2007), then the red-back approach to the Earth! In this January, Mars has reached kecerlanganan reached approximately -1 magnitude, bright enough observed in the sky as a red spot visible to the naked eye use. On January 27, 2010, the closest position to reach 99 million km, the diameter was about 14 “, then, the opposition reached Mars on January 29, 2010, with magnitudes reaching -1.28. Mars will be in very bright conditions with a magnitude of about -1, until the date of February 14, 2010, and after that will get dimmer.

So, how do we find Mars? Easy, in these months, when the afternoon, look to the rise in the east, if there is a bright spot is reddish, it is likely that he was. If we have learned about the constellations, the constellations in the sky, (to use the sky map is very helpful), or use a star map of langitselatan, find the constellation Cancer, so that is where he is!

So, what are you waiting? When the sky is clear, immediately see where the god of war is!

credit from : langitselatan.com