Home > Ephemeris Link, Mars > 08/27/2013 -Ephemeris – It’s August 27th. Do you know where Mars is?

08/27/2013 -Ephemeris – It’s August 27th. Do you know where Mars is?

August 27, 2013

Ephemeris for Tuesday, August 27th.  The sun will rise at 6:59.  It’ll be up for 13 hours and 28 minutes, setting at 8:27.   The moon, 1 day before last quarter, will rise at 12:01 tomorrow morning.

It’s August 27th.  Do you know where Mars is?  The Mars hoax is back.  It’s been 10 years since it was first sent out on the Internet as an email.  You know the one that says Mars will appear as big as the Moon?   In order to appear as big as the Moon Mars would have to be only a half million miles away.  Mars in its orbit can never come closer than 34.6 million miles from earth.  It came that close to the earth on August 27th, 2003.  Even then it was a tiny orb in telescopes.  That’s why we have to send spacecraft, taking many months to reach it to get a close look at it.  Right now Mars is 214.9 million miles away, over twice the distance of the sun.  It is seen in the east in the early morning below the much brighter Jupiter.

Times are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan.  They may be different for your location.

Addendum

Mars and Earth

Mars and Earth relative positions for August 27, 2013. Orbits are to scale, however object sizes are greatly exaggerated. Created using my LookingUp program.

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