Joined: Wed Jun 15 2005 Location: Ohio - USA Posts: 43
Mars will be at its closest approach to the Earth since August 26, 2003 on the 29th of October 2005. In August 2003 the planet was closer to us than it had been since 55,000 BC and Mars will not be that close again until the year 2287!
On the night of 29 October 2005 the planet will be located appoximately 40 million miles from us. At this distance Mars equals the diameter of a nickle placed 520 feet from your eyes.
Even at this small angular size the planet is dazzlingly bright in the eastern sky at about 9:00PM EDT.
A high quality telescope of 100 millimeter, or larger aperture, will reveal a great deal of detail on the Martian surface when magnifying 220x. Telescopes of larger aperture can use greater magnification, a good rule of thumb is; 2x per millimeter of aperture. Clear, steady atmospheric conditions are a must for high power observation.
If you own a telescope, give it a try, you could be surprised by what you see.