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As Mars Gets Closer, Amateurs Take Pictures
By Robert Roy Britt
Senior Science Writer
posted: 06:00 am ET
24 June 2003
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Becky Ramotowski took this picture of Mars and the moon from her backporch in San Antonio, Texas, on June 19th when the pair had a pleasing pre-dawn close encounter Amateur astronomers around the world are taking advantage of Mars' proximity to photograph the red planet as it moves closer to Earth each day. For those with small telescopes or no optical aids at all, the ruddy light in the early morning sky is growing bigger and brighter, an unmistakable beacon from shortly after midnight into daybreak. Through large backyard telescopes roughly 8 inches and bigger, surface features are showing up.able -->  | | SCIENCE TUESDAY | | | | | |  |  | Images |
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 | Thomas Dorman and Jim Gamble from Horizon City, Texas snapped this image of Mars through a 10-inch telescope in June 12, 2003.
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| Becky Ramotowski took this picture of the Moon and Mars, which looks like bright star, from her backyard in Texas on June 19, 2003.
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| | |  | Related SPACE.com STORIES |
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|  | TODAY'S DISCUSSION | | | | | | | On August 27, Mars will be closer to Earth than ever in recorded human history. Becky Ramotowski of San Antonio photographed Mars as a point of light alongside the Moon on June 19. She plans to take many more pictures between now and August. "It's exciting to watch the planet change," Ramotowski said. "Mars has a lot of observers excited, and rightly so. It's the best show in the summer sky." Mars and Earth converge similarly every 15 years or so, when the furthest part of Earth's orbit from the Sun (its aphelion) lines up with the closest part of Mars' orbit to the Sun (its perihelion). Skywatchers traditionally take advantage of the opportunities to peer at Mars in search of its white polar caps or dark surface markings. This year's close approach, while not dramatically nearer than those of 1988 and 1971, will nonetheless be the closest in almost 60,000 years, as reported last November by SPACE.com. Mars will be 34.65 million miles (55.76 million kilometers) away.The red planet will outshine all stars and every planet but Venus. Thomas Dorman and Jim Gamble from Horizon City, Texas photographed Mars June 12 using a 10-inch Newtonian telescope. "The southern pole was so bright," Dorman said, "and you could at times see dark markings on the surface." The future, Dorman and others say, looks brighter in many ways. The view of Mars will improve because of its rising position in the night sky through August, which cuts down on atmospheric effects that make stars twinkle and can blur the view of planets. "Mars will be higher in the sky where we do not have to look through so much atmosphere," Dorman said. "For small telescope users it will be easy to see the polar ice cap." Small is a relative term, of course. During favorable conditions in the 1980s, Dorman recalls seeing the cap and surface features through a 2.4-inch (60-mm) telescope. Interested observers might wish to begin practicing now for the August encounter. "It does take little training of the eye to be able to see features on Mars," Dorman said.Mars Watch: Maps, Charts and More
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