July 25, 2003
Photo: Still from movie
Earth and Mars are heading for their closest encounter in some 60,000 years. On August 27th the two planets will be only 56 million km apart--a small distance by interplanetary standards. Already in July the red planet is a lovely sight. To the unaided eye Mars looks like a piercing red star; a backyard telescope reveals it to be an alien world. Denis Joye of Paris, France, using an 8-inch telescope, recorded this 2-hour movie of Mars rotating on July 13th. To see Mars yourself simply go outside between midnight and dawn, and look south.
(View movie here http://www.spaceweather.com/swpod2003/24jul03/joye1.gif)
You can't miss it. [see sky map below]
