An Occultation of Mars

Anthony,

Congratulations on a magnificent sequence. Simply stunning!

Next month will be "Mars hoax" time again and I trust this photo of mine will lay to rest the assertion that Mars will approach so close to earth that it will be as large as the moon. The current apparent diameter for Mars is 3.77" and it will have to grow double-exponentially over the next few weeks to reach the apparent size of the moon. :lol:

Anthony.

Anthony, any idea when Uranus will be close to the moon? I guess it would have to grow a fair bit to look the same size as the moon though.

Dave

Next month will be "Mars hoax" time again and I trust this photo of mine will lay to rest the assertion that Mars will approach so close to earth that it will be as large as the moon. The current apparent diameter for Mars is 3.77" and it will have to grow double-exponentially over the next few weeks to reach the apparent size of the moon. :lol:

Anthony.

Anthony, any idea when Uranus will be close to the moon? I guess it would have to grow a fair bit to look the same size as the moon though.

:lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:

Anthony, Great work, those shots came out very nicely. I remember watching a similar event in 1997, when the moon occulted Mars, but had set by the time it had reappeared.

Keith..

Anthony, any idea when Uranus will be close to the moon? I guess it would have to grow a fair bit to look the same size as the moon though.

Dave,

Dave Brannigan and I watched Uranus just north of the moon some weeks back in the Eastern sky. It was pretty close then but not near an occultation. With the erratic appearance of the Moon it could be some time before the next occultation. Worth investigating though :idea:

Just FYI, the Moon is very close to Uranus during the partial lunar eclipse on September 7th.

They are closest during Daylight but will only be around 3degrees apart during the eclipse itself

CONJUNCTIONS WITH THE MOON
From: 2006 Sep 01 To: 2006 Sep 30

Uranus, 2006 Sep 7, 14:46, 0.40 North

Partial Eclipse of the Moon of 2006 Sep. 07
Dunsink Obs., Castleknock
Location: W 6°20'12.0", N53°23'18.0", 85m
(Longitude referred to Greenwich meridian)

Moonrise 7, 18:59UT
Moon exits umbra 7, 19:37.6UT
Moon exits penumbra 7, 21:00.3UT

Penumbral Duration: 2h 01.2m
Umbral Duration: 0h 38.5m
Magnitude: 0.189

Univ. of Thessaloníki Obs., Thessaloníki
Location: E 22°57'30.0", N40°37'00.0", 28m
(Longitude referred to Greenwich meridian)

Moonrise 7, 16:47
Moon enters umbra 7, 18:05.1
Maximum Eclipse 7, 18:51.3
Moon exits umbra 7, 19:37.6
Moon exits penumbra 7, 21:00.3

Penumbral Duration: 4h 13.6m
Umbral Duration: 1h 32.5m
Magnitude: 0.189