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IF YOU’RE LOOKING for something non-Eurovision-related to do this evening, you could to worse than look to the skies.
Mars is going to be (relatively) close to Earth and will be visible to the naked eye for a period of time tonight.
It”s going to be the closest the Red Planet gets to Earth for more than two years – we’re not going to see it this close again until 2016.
“Those of us who have large telescopes have been getting amazing views of Mars over the past few days while the planet is so close,” said David Moore, the editor of Astronomy Ireland’s magazine.
“I’ve seen the ice caps, clouds and the dark surface markings that were once thought to be vast areas of vegetation that led to all the stories of Martians and life on that planet in the 19th century when telescopes were first big enough to show this sort of detail when Mars came close to Earth like it does in 2014″.
Astronomy Ireland is setting up powerful telescopes in Rosemount Business Park in Dublin 15, near the National Aquatic Centre, tonight to allow members of the public to see the Red Planet up close.
Anyone relying on their peepers to spot it should look out for a very bright star-like object just to the left of the Moon.
Happy planet-spotting…
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Why are these planets and stars in their best position on cloudy nights?
God hates astronomy.
ah Good Evening Darling.
Because cloudy is what we have 350+ days/nights a year
That’s a new one for the gang down in Westboro!
God hates Irish astronomers?
Why on earth did 6 people red thumb me for mocking a bunch of hateful bigots over in Kansas?
We have overtaken Mars in our race around the sun. Mars is receding, shrinking daily. Get out when you can to see it. A ridiculously small fraction of the earth’s population have ever seen Mars through a telescope.
The man is right about seeing volcanoes, polar caps and dark markings.
The REAL eye popping jaw-dropping planet that ALWAYS gets people to say “O My God!” is Saturn, which is ALSO up these evenings. It follows Mars across the sky about two hours (30degrees) behind it (East of it).
I have shown HUNDREDS of people Saturn for the first time and 90% of them think it’s fake. It is that crisp and sharply defined. People can’t believe what they’re saying.
The only tip I’d offer if viewing mars through a telescope now is to wear dark glasses. It is SO bright that the glare keeps you from seeing much surface detail. Some nice polarized specs do wonders. You look like a total lunatic wearing dark glasses looking through a telescope at night, but let them laugh. The views are certainly worth it.
“…can’t believe what they are seeing….”, not “saying”. LOL
Saturn is at opposition tonight too. Best time to view, skies permitting.
Mars looks in no way interesting through a telescope you’re likely to have at home. I had a 12.5″ reflector and through that, and dark clear outback Australian skies while Mars was at it’s closest in decades, it looked like a small slightly orange dot. No surface features were visible.
Turn your telescopes to reflection nebulae, galaxies, saturn and Jupiter.
Google Sky Map is a fantastic free app if anyone needs help finding it. Point your phone to the sky and the app tells you what you’re looking at, really cool.
Great info Leopold.
Google Sky Map is good but Stellarium is so much better. It costs a couple of €€ but it’s well worth it!
What time is optimal viewing?
10p to 2 a is good. You want it high in the sky so you’re looking through less of earth’s atmosphere. When it’s low, you’re looking through ~300miles of air. When it’s high overhead, you’re looking through ~50 miles. Much clearer image.
Wasn’t there a David Bowie song about Mars?
No. Oh and Dungeon Master – i can’t quite remember did the kids make it out in the end?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v–IqqusnNQ
I thought Mars reached opposition on the 8th of April?! Or is it down to the fact that it rises closer to sunset that makes it a more “viewable” object in the night sky? Saturn’s pretty bright these days as well…..
Sadly no Inigo, I stopped with the riddles long ago and had to tell them bluntly to f**k off at one stage but they’re keen on staying, and Presto died last year, pulled a grenade out of his hat, pretty tragic really
Yep it’s true. Just looked up and seen rain clouds. Pif
When you can see the Martians, that’s when I’ll start looking.
Put a small hole in a piece of paper and look up at the view outstanding
Whatever about the clouds, my telescope would be shaking mad in these winds!
I hope you remind a little closer to time lol
The shadowing on Mars in that photo looks a little like Grumpy Cat…
10/5/2016? :)
Pity about all the rain clouds then eh ?
have your say