|
|
Tech Telescopes Zoom in on Mars Aug. 27
For more information on this story contact:
(Aug. 20, 2003) Have you seen Mars lately? On Wednesday, Aug. 27, Mars and Earth will pass closer together than they have in the past 50,000 years, making the red planet appear unusually large and bright in our night sky.
So that everyone has a chance to see our planetary neighbor up close, Michigan Tech plans to hold Mars Watch 2003 in the commons area between Fisher Hall and the Walker Arts and Humanities Center. The event will begin at 9:30 p.m. and run until midnight.
At Mars Watch, several small telescopes, binoculars, and local astronomers will be present to help see the unusual spectacle.
"You will be able to see things on Mars you likely have never seen before," says event organizer Robert Nemiroff, an associate professor of physics at MTU who teaches astronomy and the author of a popular annotated book of space images, "The Universe: 365 Days". The book is available in Houghton at B. Dalton. "Everyone in Copper Country is welcome," Nemiroff adds. "Bring your kids!"
"This is truly a unique opportunity," says Michigan Tech sophomore Dan Cordell. Cordell is just back from Kitt Peak National Observatory in Arizona where he participated in a project also involving sophomore Hiromichi Nishimura and senior Andrew Fleming. At Kitt Peak, Cordell noted, "Many people are very excited about Mars getting this close. It will really be spectacular."
"I will be there, and so will my telescope!" says Dean of the Graduate School Bruce Rafert, the senior astronomer at Michigan Tech. "If it rains or is too cloudy, we'll just try again the next day. Mars will still be good." |
|
