2 moons

[NEOCON1]

*Two Moons on 27 August*

Planet Mars will be the brightest star in the night sky starting in August.

It will look as large as the full moon to the naked eye. This will
happen on Aug. 27 when Mars comes within 34.65M miles of earth. Be
sure to watch the sky on Aug. 27 12:30 am midnight. It will look like
the earth has 2 moons. The next time Mars may come this close again will be in
2287.

Share this with your friends as NO ONE ALIVE TODAY will ever see it
again.

[ChiHummer3]

Thanks for the info! Sounds pretty cool!

[NEOCON1]

Originally Posted by ChiHummer3

Thanks for the info! Sounds pretty cool!

not sure if it can look as big as the moon but should be neat to see

[MarineHawk]

Okay, I?m not a scientist, but to look the same size, both the Moon and Mars would have to have the same ratio of their diameters to their distances from the earth (i.e., an object that is twice as far away, but twice as big, as another object will appear to be the same size as the other object to the viewer).

MARS:
- Diameter = 4,226 mi
- Distance from earth (as stated in the cited thingy) = 34,650,000 mi
- Diameter/distance ratio = 0.000122

MOON
- Diameter = 2,159 mi
- Distance from earth = 238,857 mi
- Diameter/distance ratio = 0.00904

Thus, Mars at 34.65M miles away, will look 1/74th (0.000122/0.00904) the size of the Moon.

[Adam in CO]

Wow.

[Agriv8r]

Originally Posted by MarineHawk

Okay, I?m not a scientist, but to look the same size, both the Moon and Mars would have to have the same ratio of their diameters to their distances from the earth (i.e., an object that is twice as far away, but twice as big, as another object will appear to be the same size as the other object to the viewer).

MARS:
- Diameter = 4,226 mi
- Distance from earth (as stated in the cited thingy) = 34,650,000 mi
- Diameter/distance ratio = 0.000122

MOON
- Diameter = 2,159 mi
- Distance from earth = 238,857 mi
- Diameter/distance ratio = 0.00904

Thus, Mars at 34.65M miles away, will look 1/74th (0.000122/0.00904) the size of the Moon.

simple math 34,650,000/238,857 = 145 (mars is 145 times further away than moon) 4226/2159 = 1.96 (mars almost 2 times a big) 145*1.96 = 73.98

so 34,650,000/238,857*1.96 means mars will look 74 times smaller than the moon

[Agriv8r]

oh wait....both answers are the same, so you guys already knew that....

[dеiтайожни]

Originally Posted by MarineHawk

Okay, I?m not a scientist

Let's leave it at that.

[DennisAJC]

Originally Posted by MarineHawk

Okay, I?m not a scientist, but to look the same size, both the Moon and Mars would have to have the same ratio of their diameters to their distances from the earth (i.e., an object that is twice as far away, but twice as big, as another object will appear to be the same size as the other object to the viewer).

MARS:
- Diameter = 4,226 mi
- Distance from earth (as stated in the cited thingy) = 34,650,000 mi
- Diameter/distance ratio = 0.000122

MOON
- Diameter = 2,159 mi
- Distance from earth = 238,857 mi
- Diameter/distance ratio = 0.00904

Thus, Mars at 34.65M miles away, will look 1/74th (0.000122/0.00904) the size of the Moon.

So Mars will be twice as big as the Moon on that day?

[H2 rocks me]

http://www.snopes.com/science/mars.asp

[MarineHawk]

Originally Posted by DennisAJC

So Mars will be twice as big as the Moon on that day?

Yes.

[CO Hummer]

Originally Posted by Steve - SanJose

The lunar month is the 29.53 days it takes to go from one new moon to the next. During the lunar month, the Moon goes through all its phases. You can see the phases drawn in the image below. Just like the Earth, half of the Moon is lit by the Sun while the other half is in darkness. The phases we see result from the angle the Moon makes with the Sun as viewed from Earth.
At new moon, the Moon is lined up between the Earth and the Sun. We see the side of the Moon that is not being lit by the Sun (in other words, we see no Moon at all, because the brightness of the Sun outshines the dim Moon!) When the Moon is exactly lined up with the Sun (as viewed from Earth), we experience an eclipse.
As the Moon moves eastward away from the Sun in the sky, we see a bit more of the sunlit side of the Moon each night. A few days after new moon, we see a thin crescent in the western evening sky. The crescent Moon waxes, or appears to grow fatter, each night. When half of the Moon's disc is illuminated, we call it the first quarter moon. This name comes from the fact that the Moon is now one-quarter of the way through the lunar month. From Earth, we are now looking at the sunlit side of the Moon from off to the side.
The Moon continues to wax. Once more than half of the disc is illuminated, it has a shape we call gibbous. The gibbous moon appears to grow fatter each night until we see the full sunlit face of the Moon. We call this phase the full moon. It rises almost exactly as the Sun sets and sets just as the Sun rises the next day. The Moon has now completed one half of the lunar month.
During the second half of the lunar month, the Moon grows thinner each night. We call this waning. Its shape is still gibbous at this point, but grows a little thinner each night. As it reaches the three-quarter point in its month, the Moon once again shows us one side of its disc illuminated and the other side in darkness. However, the side that we saw dark at the first quarter phase is now the lit side. As it completes its journey and approaches new moon again, the Moon is a waning crescent.

S.

Wow. Thanks, Steve.

[MarineHawk]

Originally Posted by CO Hummer

Wow. Thanks, Steve.

He's very wordy today.

[Agriv8r]

[dеiтайожни]

Originally Posted by Steve - SanJose

You are welcome. Never knew I had it in me.

Quiet down over there.

[BKLYNH2]

it must be the two moons thing having a strange effect on him.

[timgco]

I thought this was about a breakfast plate at Denny's. DAMN!


I now wonder what we'll see after the data that was just posted. Thanks for specs btw. I am going to do a little research on this today. WHen I heard the space shuttle was coming over and we'd be able to see it, I was all over that one too.

[marin8703]

Originally Posted by NEOCON1

Share this with your friends as NO ONE ALIVE TODAY will ever see it
again.

shows how much you know.

thanks for the great info

[BKLYNH2]

Damn! I'm probably going to miss it. I will be out on the 27th. Maybe I can catch it next time.

[CO Hummer]

2 other moons.