MARS MARS, wait for me to view you !!!
For the next two months Malaysians can catch a glimpse of Mars which to the naked eye would resemble a bright orange star in the sky.
The sight of the red planet would not be visible to the naked eye again until March 2012.
USM Astronomy Club academic adviser Assoc Prof Dr Chong Hon Yew said Mars could be seen only with a telescope after May.
He said Mars could be seen clearly from Monday at 9pm, when the moon and the planet converge for a bright conjunction while the red planet is directly opposite the sun.
Dr Chong said Mars would “disappear” from the naked eye in May when the planet would be in the constellation of Leo in the south-western sky.
“It would then be smaller than it would be in April. It would be visible only with a telescope until the next opposition on March 4, 2012,” he said.
Dr Chong said every two years, Earth and Mars would come close together when the latter appeared 14 arcseconds in diameter or 1/120 the diameter of the moon.
“Every two years or so the sun, Earth and Mars line up. This is called an opposition.
“The planet’s 14 arcsecond diameter will remain essentially unchanged for about a week, setting the stage for some good observing.”
He said the last time Mars was the closest it had been to Earth in 60,000 years was when the planet was 34.65mil miles away on August 27, 2003.
“Mars was then face-on to Earth and opposite the sun on the 28th (opposition). It was the closest to the sun in its orbit on Aug 30.
“The reason Mars was so close was that Earth was about the farthest away from the sun in its orbit at the time that Mars was nearing its closest point to the sun,” he said.
The Star
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