Astronomy Question: Was That Mars?

[grimpixie]

Originally posted by Jinx *
** This nickname IS no mistake. Also, I’ve never seen a red Venus!?*

I feel obliged to defend my honour by pointing out that the OP made no mention of the colour of the object he saw!!!

Had I made that mistake, I would have been forced to commit hari-kiri on the spot…

Grim

[Jinx]

*Originally posted by MC Master of Ceremonies *
**Mars is at the moment getting very close to Earth, closer that’s ever been for thousands of years and at the moment it is very bright in the sky, roughly as bright as Venus. You should be able to see it in the sky as the bright rusty-coloured ‘star’ next to the moon. **

Yes, but with one clarification: This is only true for one specific evening, per month, roughly. The moon changes position relatively rapidly… In short, I wouldn’t want people to think they can always use the moon to locate Mars in the night sky.

• Jinx

[RM_Mentock]

*Originally posted by Jinx *
**No, QED is correct for all intents and purposes. I trust the OP was not making his observations from the Poles. For latitudes where most of humanity inhabits the Earth, Venus will not be observed in the sky so late at night. In general, the majority of all astronomical data (tables, charts, etc.) are geared for +40 latitude, folks. QED is correct because this IS understood - as we understand that the OP was not making his observations at the Poles.

Also, you’ll recall from elementary school that Venus is considered an “evening star” or “morning star”. This nickname IS no mistake. Also, I’ve never seen a red Venus!?

The object was Mars, of course, but there are certain circumstances where we’d have a red Venus visible at midnight, without resorting to high latitudes. Not next to a full moon, of course. And midnight local time, not midnight astronomical time.

I just ran an astro program for Louisville KY and it shows Venus just above the western horizon at midnight local time on April 16, 2004. That low on the horizon, it probably would appear red. Louisville was chosen because it is so far to the west of the Eastern Time Zone, and so Venus would be visible later for them. Plus, daylight saving time would advance the clock a whole hour. China, with its broad time zone, would have an even more extreme situation.

[eburacum45]

look for the closest approach on August 27 2003…
still won’t be as bright as Venus gets

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SF worldbuilding at
http://www.orionsarm.com/main.html

[RM_Mentock]

*Originally posted by eburacum45 *
still won’t be as bright as Venus gets

It’s not well-known that Venus hardly varies in brightness at all. It gets down to -3.9 magnitude when it’s on the other side of the Sun (but it is not visible because of the Sun’s glare), but as it gets closer to Earth, it starts to lose phase like our moon–the two effects compensate for each other, and Venus remains around -4, getting up to -4.6 or so. The only time it really dims is near the time when its lit side is facing directly towards the Sun.