[ad_1]
As the world prepares to witness the longest total lunar eclipse of the 21st century, Indian astronomers worry if the heavy monsoon clouds let them attend the heavenly spectacle. And with reason, because without clear sky, they will miss more than the Moon.
In what appears to be an astonishing coincidence, Mars will also observe the Earth's closest distance in 15 years during the July lunar eclipse. Mars and Earth are closest to each other when Mars is at its closest point to the Sun and the Earth is furthest away – in their respective orbits.
On July 27, Mars will be in opposition to the Sun. which means will be in front of the Sun in the sky of the Earth. Astronomically, it is said that a planet is in opposition when the Sun, the Earth and the planet align almost in one straight line. That night, the planet rises above the eastern horizon at sunset. However, this position is not necessarily the closest to the Earth.
This will happen just 51 days before it pbades through perihelion – which is its closest point to the Sun in its orbit. Therefore, as indicated Space the minimum distance between Mars and the Earth will decrease to about 57.58 million kilometers on July 31.
That day, the red planet will shine magnitude -2.8, which means it will flarter twice as bright as Jupiter, but darker than Venus.
In other words, Mars will be easily visible to the naked eye under clear skies. The last time the red planet was so close to Earth was in 2003.
A map of Mars produced from images captured by MOM. Image courtesy of NASA
At 15:21 (IST) on August 27, 2003, the center-to-center distance between Earth and Mars was the shortest for about 60,000 years, and the two planets will no longer be closer than 2287. The planets were distant of just over 55.76 million kilometers. The last time that they were so close was in 57,537 BCE, making the 2003 event quite historic
However, the closest approach to July is unlikely.
"These two planets are almost as close together every 15 to 17 The Earth and the Red Planet were distant from about 59 million kilometers in 1988 and distant from about 57.6 million kilometers on 27 July 2018, "said Arvind. Paranjpye, director of the Nehru Planetarium in Mumbai, wrote in an email exchange with tech2 .
The best places to see the red planet? South America, South Africa and Australia.
Observers from the southern hemisphere will be offered an excellent opportunity for observation, as the planet will pbad almost directly over their heads. And major observing facilities like the Hubble Space Telescope are still here to send amazing images to the rest of us.
Paranjpye also warns against hype around this particular event. "For serious astronomers, this event offers an extraordinary opportunity to study Mars, but the layman who could expect to see dramatic details of the surface of Mars may be very disappointed. [19659002] Since we are in the middle of the monsoon here in India, the sky is likely to be cloudy.In addition, it would require a telescope equipped with a lens or mirror that is at least 6 inches of opening to discern even the main features of the surface of Mars. very exciting to observe, "he said.
[ad_2]
Source link
