Yes, for another supposedly once in a life time astronimical experience you are able to see Mars brighter and bigger than ever. My dad gave me this paragraph a neighbor printed off that said all about it so I will be typing that up later. As for now, lets just say Mars is brighter than the stars and has an orange tint to it. I saw it in the East, and I believe seeing it in the East would hold true for everyone. Mars will also get progressively brighter throughout this month. In case you aren't the smartest person in the world, you must go outside when it is completely dark out to view this. I'm *pretty* sure you won't be able to see it during the day.

good thing u have to go out at night, the sun is to bright

You mean that big yellowishy orangeishishy thing in the sky during the day isn't Mars?

Well, it's too bad that it's now, if it would have been in summer (ala, before school) I would have taken a look, but since school starts, I need tons of sleep.

You started school already? We start after Labor Day since after much consideration, the school board thought it was best. Reason for that is this: School starts, then suddenly school stops for a vacation right after a big vacation. Heh, lucky me

I'll type up the paragraph later...I have things to do right now.

Mars is Red and Small. But is bigger at 3:00AM.

yeah school started for my little bro here, good thing is he gets out May 15th

my dad forwaded this to me, and it's actually once every 4 years it gets close, but once every 60,000 years it gets this close.

Alright, here's the article with a bunch of useless facts for everyone

Never again in your lifetime will the Red Planet be so spectacular!

This month and next, Earth is catching up with Mars, an encounter that will culminate in the closest approach between the two planets in recorded history. The next time Mars may come this close is in 2287. Due to the way Jupiter's gravity tugs on Mars and perturbs its orbit, astronomers can only be certain that Mars has not come this close to Earth in the last 5,000 years but it may be as long as 60,000 years.

On August 27, Mars will come within 34,649,589 miles and will be (next to the moon) the brightest object in the night sky. It will attain a maginitude of -2.9 and will appear 25.11 arc seconds wide. At a modest 75-power magnification Mars will look as large as the full moon to the naked eye. Mars will be easy to spot. At the beginning of August, Mars will rise in the east at 10p.m. and reach its azimuthat about 3a.m. But by the end of August when the two planest are closest, Mars will rise at nightfall and reach its highest point in the sky at 12:30a.m. That's pretty convenient when it comes to seeing something that no human has seen in recorded history. So mark your calendar at the beginning of August to see Mars grow progressively brighter and brighter throughout the month.

There you have it...I probably made some typos while using my 1337 fast typing skillz, so I'll fix them if I see them.

I've been seeing it in the sky for over a month now. I work nights, so I see it on my way to work.

Thanks, Now maybe I can hitch a ride home,won't be near as far as it was about 2-3000 year ago...
Right-ON!!

I remember hearing about this earlier in the year. Alot of cool astronomical things have been happening in our lifetime that won't happen for MANY years from now. First that Meteor now Mars. This is exciting.

Yah, me and my dad drug out the telescope, but for like 2 hours the thing was blocked by phobos.

cool!

August 27th 12:30 am Mars deff. punshed into my pda. It will be a cool thing to do with my girl fried at school.

Quote: Originally posted by invent83 cool! August 27th 12:30 am Mars deff. punshed into my pda. It will be a cool thing to do with my girl fried at school.

Hehe same here. And when I say "do" I mean "do". To be young and in love. Ain't it great?

you're bad lol

too bad my telescope is under my aquarium... thing weighs like 500 lbs. maybe i can steal my uncle's.

This is pretty cool though.

Let's not forget the possibility that these guys could still invade us. You know, I can sure listen to some Slim Whitman right about now, hint, hint..........

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Quote: Originally posted by jcarkeys Well, it's too bad that it's now, if it would have been in summer (ala, before school) I would have taken a look, but since school starts, I need tons of sleep.

uhh you need *more* sleep for school...oh damn ive been doing it backwards, wondered why i always feel asleep in class....5 hours of sleep isnt enough i guess.

When we start up in a week we will have heat a scheduel, which will knock it down to 4 hours of sleep a day...that cant be healthy hrm im

I should go check and see if its visible from here, dont know if it will be to bright in town or not

hellz yeah. it is nice to be warm when it is -15C outside.

Quote: Originally posted by lAnonymousl Hehe same here. And when I say "do" I mean "do". To be young and in love. Ain't it great?

not too bright to see at night in Toronto, and ambient light there is really high...the Great Blackout was cool...you could see thousands of stars at night, including the 'rusty' one...

wow so thats what that huge red dot in the sky was. ive been wondering about that. this morning at 4:45 am (dog barking) i took a look with binoculars. ill have to find something more powerful tonight.