Hello Kenneth.

25 Aug 04 10:28, you wrote to all:

 KB> Howdy Y'all:

 KB>     What's the deal about Mars getting close?  In thew below quote, it
 KB> says Mars will be the size of the moon!!!  ;-)

No it doesn't

 KB>     The encounter will culminate on August 27th when Mars comes
 KB> to within 34,649,589 miles of Earth and will be (next to the
 KB> moon) the brightest object in the night sky. It will attain a
 KB> magnitude of -2.9 and will appear 25.11 arc seconds wide. At a
 KB> modest 75-power magnification

 >>    Mars will look as large as the full moon to the naked eye.

For "next to" read "besides", IIRC the moon is over
3000 arc seconds wide.

 KB>     By the end of August when the two planets are closest, Mars
 KB> will rise at nightfall and reach its highest point in the sky at
 KB> 12:30a.m. That's pretty convenient to see something that no
 KB> human being has seen in recorded history. So, mark your calendar
 KB> at the beginning of August to see Mars grow progressively
 KB> brighter and brighter throughout the month.

I remember mars was big last year: a little copper-coloursed spot in the sky.
last night I was up at 1am  but didn't look at the sky. last night was warm
so there may have been clouds.

Jasen

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