Ask an Astronomer: Mars and the Moon on August 27

[stevmg]

On August 27 we are supposed to see Mars adjacent to the Moon about 1 - 2 AM so it looks like this picture.

Doesn't make sense. Mars is 37 million miles away while the moon is 1/4 million miles away. That makes the subtended arcs in a 75:1 ratio Moon:Mars (because Mars is twice the diameter of the moon.)

Any comments from anyone?

 

[Math Is Hard]

There's a "Mars will look as big as the moon" hoax email that gets resurrected and passed around every year in August. I suppose this is related to that?

http://science.nasa.gov/science-news/science-at-nasa/2005/07jul_marshoax/

 

[russ_watters]

Ugh, I can't believe this is coming back again. Mars isn't even anywhere near opposition right now - it is on the other side of the sun from us, some 200 million miles away.

About 7 years ago (August, 2003), Mars was closer than it usually gets - by a few percent - and it was probably due to some, some sloppy reporter misunderstanding an astronomer when told that Mars would look as big through an amatuer telescope as the Moon does to the naked eye.

http://www.snopes.com/science/astronomy/brightmars.asp

 

[stevmg]

Muchas Gracias!

I thought I was right...

stevmg

 

[sardar]

Thank you for your question. It is true that Mars and the Moon will appear close to each other in the sky on August 27, but this is due to their positions in the sky as seen from Earth, not their actual physical proximity to each other. As you mentioned, Mars is much farther away from Earth than the Moon, but because of its orbit around the Sun, it will appear closer to the Moon in our sky on this particular date. This is known as a conjunction, where two celestial objects appear close to each other in the sky. This phenomenon is not uncommon and occurs regularly with other planets and the Moon. It is a great opportunity for stargazers to observe the planets in our solar system and appreciate the vast distances between them. I hope this helps to clarify any confusion. Happy stargazing!