Comments on: Opposition to Mars

By: Michael Amato

Michael Amato — Wed, 19 Dec 2007 20:46:45 +0000

I read the April 29th BA blog about weather the sun caused global warming or not. I found it very interesting and there is no doubt that much more reseach is needed to determine if the sun is contributing to global warming

By: Michael Amato

Michael Amato — Wed, 19 Dec 2007 20:43:46 +0000

In response to Mike Lonergan’s suggestion that I read the April 29th blog, I found the article to be very interesting. A lot more reserach will be needed to determine if the sun has anything to do with global warming. Thanks Mike for giving me the heads up on that interesting blog.

By: Quiet_Desperation

Quiet_Desperation — Wed, 19 Dec 2007 16:46:19 +0000

here has been no noticeable upper trend in sunlight for 50 years or more.

Well, no, it’s been increasing 0.05 percent per decade since the 1970s. Before that we don’t know because you really need satellites to measure with that precision.

I’m not saying it’s driving GW, but there *is* a small increase. If it has been going on through the 20th century, then it could be a factor if only as something to exacerbate AGW.

I’m just sayin’.

By: Quiet_Desperation

Quiet_Desperation — Wed, 19 Dec 2007 16:37:03 +0000

Now, let me be clear. Mars is small, and far away. Even through a decent telescope it’s not much more than an butterscotch-colored disk, with only a few features detectable

I showed Mars to a friend’s wife a few years back during a previous opposition. She sniffed and said, “I thought I’d be able to see the storms.” Mind you, I didn’t force this. She *asked* to see it, having heard about it on the news. I dragged the scope (a 16.5″ Dobsonian) out just to show her.

I’ve never shown off anything through the scope since.

By: Barton Paul Levenson

Barton Paul Levenson — Wed, 19 Dec 2007 15:23:13 +0000

Michael Amato posts:

[[This indicates to me that Jupiter must also be warming up because more storms indicate warmer temperatures. Come to think of it, Mars seems to have more dust storms than it used to when I was younger. I wonder if the sun is up to no good.]]

They found hot spots on Jupiter; they have not found global warming on Jupiter. The hot spots have probably been there (the phenomenon, I mean, not the individual columns) for billions of years. As for big dust storms on Mars, google “Mars Mariner dust 1971.”

The sun can’t be responsible for current global warming on any planet since there has been no noticeable upper trend in sunlight for 50 years or more. We’ve been measuring Total Solar Irradiance from satellites like Nimbus-7 and the Solar Maximum Mission for many decades now, and have good proxies before that.

By: Johnny Vector

Johnny Vector — Wed, 19 Dec 2007 13:43:52 +0000

a 2.4 meter mirror in space can see even relatively dim stars in a fraction of a second exposure time

To be complete, it also helps when you have a really really good CCD, cooled to like -80 degrees C., and you take minutes to read it out. It’s amazing how low much lower the noise can be than in your $500 digital camera.

I don’t actually know how long the readout takes on WFPC2, but it’s about 2 minutes to read out the 16 megapixels of ACS Wide Field Channel, and it’s likely similar. Though of course for ACS right now it’s 2 minutes plus the time between now and Servicing Mission 4.

By: Michael Lonergan

Michael Lonergan — Wed, 19 Dec 2007 12:14:14 +0000

Here’s a nice trick to play on the kiddies: Take them out Dec 24, point to that red dot in the sky, and proclaim, “Hey, look! It’s Rudolph!”

By: Grand Lunar

Grand Lunar — Wed, 19 Dec 2007 11:33:17 +0000

I don’t think I’ve ever seen Mars as bright as it does. Mostly because at the other times, I didn’t know what to look for, or the Florida weather was clouding my vision!
Unfortunately, my telescope isn’t with me now. I hope I get a chance to use it during my brief stay with my family at home.

By: Michael Lonergan

Michael Lonergan — Wed, 19 Dec 2007 07:49:55 +0000

Found it!
Is global warming solar induced? April 29, 2007. This should answer the questions that Michael Amato has.

By: Michael Lonergan

Michael Lonergan — Wed, 19 Dec 2007 07:44:11 +0000

I’d like to visit the Twin Moons of Uranus!

About the Global warming thing on Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Neptune, Pluto, and ah yes, Uranus: Didn’t the BA have a blog on this quite some time ago as this was making the “Conspiracy Theory” rounds? People were claiming the Sun was going wonky and it was refuted by the BA by explaining about the various temperature increases and what it would mean in relation to how distant each planet lies from the Sun?

(I swear I have not touched a drink yet.)

By: Lugosi

Lugosi — Wed, 19 Dec 2007 03:10:33 +0000

I recently had an appointment with my proctologist and he had a weird picture on his wall. I asked him, “What’s that?” And he said, “That’s a picture of Uranus.”
Needless to say, I made him take it down.

By: The Bad Astronomer

The Bad Astronomer — Wed, 19 Dec 2007 01:54:45 +0000

Heh. I would actually bet that there are stars in the image! I’m sure the exposure times for the images that went into making this picture were short, but a 2.4 meter mirror in space can see even relatively dim stars in a fraction of a second exposure time. In this case, though, the background level was set high to make the picture pretty.

By: Grumpy

Grumpy — Wed, 19 Dec 2007 00:45:18 +0000

The photo has no stars in the sky, therefore the image is fake! And faked poorly by some schmuck who doesn’t know there’s s’posed to be stars! It was probably Buzz Aldrin himself who faked it!

By: The Ill Tempered Klavier

The Ill Tempered Klavier — Wed, 19 Dec 2007 00:04:30 +0000

Weel thar Big John Ah’d be right with ya on the Bible readin and throw in some right juicy bits outta the Book of Mormon too, ‘ceptin’ ah’d probly get mixed up an’ slip in sumptin’ outta the Book of Eibon or the Necronomicon an’ that’d cool the party quicker’n a CO2 fahr extinguisher.

‘Sides, Ah gotta tell ya, t’other night Ah set up mah ol’ 3″ f-10 newtonian what Ah got fuh $29.95 frum Edmund Scientific Co. {CENSORED} yeahs ago when Ah was about 12 and still got ‘cuz I kept ignorin’ mah Dad all them times he said, “Muffin, I won’t officially have an empty nest till you get your junk out of my garage.” An’ Mars only looks about like a BB through somethin’ like that theyah.

By: bigjohn

bigjohn — Tue, 18 Dec 2007 21:52:30 +0000

Wadda ya mean Mars won’t be as big as the full Moon? Whut about all those emails I been gettin lately? I bin farwardin em to everybody too. I spect thar’ll be a ton of folks out looking at the sight. Leastwize down here in Texas we will. Soon as we has the Bible readin after supper.

By: Michael Lonergan

Michael Lonergan — Tue, 18 Dec 2007 21:33:27 +0000

To Jack:

What is really funny is that I had a dream last night where I was outside, and looked into the sky, and what did i see? Yes, the Moon, but right next to it? A Moon sized red Mars!

By: Ken B

Ken B — Tue, 18 Dec 2007 21:24:56 +0000

Sorry for the double-post, but I got errors both times I posted. (Apparently, the php/SQL errors occurred _after_ it successfully posted my comment.)

By: Ken B

Ken B — Tue, 18 Dec 2007 21:22:36 +0000

Silly String Theory:
> one advantage to winters here at 5000? ASL is that the skies
> are super clear

Try it from 33,000 feet! Over the ocean! I was on an evening flight home last night, and had a great view from 33,000 feet above the Atlantic. Mars was quite bright, and I don’t remember ever seeing Orion quite as clear. I’m not sure if it was my imagination or not, but I’m pretty sure I was able to see M42 as well. (If only I had had my binoculars with me.)

By: Ken B

Ken B — Tue, 18 Dec 2007 21:21:45 +0000

Silly String Theory:
> one advantage to winters here at 5000? ASL is that the skies
> are super clear

By: Jack Hagerty

Jack Hagerty — Tue, 18 Dec 2007 21:09:01 +0000

Silly String Theory says: “it’s impossible to miss that bright red object off Orion’s right shoulder.”

Don’t forget the bright red object that IS Orion’s right shoulder (Betelgeuse).

- Jack

By: Jack Hagerty

Jack Hagerty — Tue, 18 Dec 2007 21:06:54 +0000

Evolving Squid says: “As the family science geek, I get pestered with the “giant mars” thing every year. Makes me want to bust a telescope over people’s heads.”

Nothing works like the evidence of your own eyes. A few weeks ago when the moon passed Mars only a couple of degrees away, I dragged both my kids outside and said, “See? It’s not as big as the moon.” Of course they both knew about the “hoax”, but it’s still has a great impact to see them side-by-side.

- Jack

By: Tom Elmer

Tom Elmer — Tue, 18 Dec 2007 20:41:34 +0000

I cheated… I had been looking up the occultation map to see if I’d be able to see it in Colorado when I visit relatives for the holidays and noticed that full moon, occultation, and martian opposition were all less than a day apart, so I was doing some back-of-the-envelope calculations when your post showed up in my Google Reader.

By: Michael Lonergan

Michael Lonergan — Tue, 18 Dec 2007 20:38:10 +0000

I must state that I am opposed to anything Mars does.

Actually, I had the pleasure of viewing Mars on it’s closest approach several years ago, through my 3.5 inch Mak/Cass scope. It was awesome to see it with my own eyes. I was able to see the polar icecap and some dark spots. We get spoiled with what we are seeing through the eyes of Hubble, but there is nothing like the experience of seeing these objects yourself, especially sharing it with my daughter, who was six at the time.

By: Carey

Carey — Tue, 18 Dec 2007 20:33:35 +0000

Silly stupid question – Why would the left/right orientation of Mars and Orion/Pleiades change as the observer moves to the Southern hemisphere?

It seems to me (I’m imagining a very large human straddling enormous amounts of latitude) that, looking east, starting at Maryland latitude, as I move southward (to my right)…

Oh, okay. I see.

By: The Bad Astronomer

The Bad Astronomer — Tue, 18 Dec 2007 20:13:53 +0000

Ah, closest approach need not be on the day of opposition, of course! It depends on the shapes of the orbits. Nuts. Tom, you got me there!