Mars at Opposition tonight

Those up waiting for Santa to appear may mistake red Mars for Rudolph the reindeer's nose tonight! The just-past-full moon is below Mars tonight in the sky. It's hard to miss these two objects, they are the brightest objects in the sky! Last night Mars was to be seen just to the right of the moon. Last nights's full moon could also be called the moon at opposition - that is when the moon and the sun are on opposite sides of the earth. So we see a lunar opposition every month! Tonight Mars is at opposition - meaning that Mars and the sun are on opposite sides of the Earth. This occurs only every 26 months! This weekend, even though it was freezing (well, it was cold) lots of you came out for a look at Mars and the moon in both Pasadena and Monrovia. And the question most people asked was "what can you tell me about the asteroid that is going to hit Mars?? I hadn't read the press release before heading to the sidewalk Friday afternoon. I'll summarize here: "Astronomers are monitoring the trajectory of an asteroid estimated to be 50 meters (164 feet) wide that is expected to cross Mars' orbital path early next year. Observations provided by the astronomers and analyzed by NASA's Near-Earth Object Office at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif., indicate the object may pass within 30,000 miles of Mars at about 6 a.m. EST (3 a.m. PST) on Jan. 30, 2008. "Right now asteroid 2007 WD5 is about half-way between Earth and Mars and closing the distance at a speed of about 27,900 miles per hour," said Don Yeomans, manager of the Near Earth Object Office at JPL. "Over the next five weeks, we hope to gather more information from observatories so we can further refine the asteroid's trajectory." You can read more and see some really cool images of the asteroids current position and possible paths here: http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.cfm?release=2007-152 I've updated my Mars2007 webpage for those who want a one-stop shopping place for information about Mars. http://www.otastro.org/Mars2005/ Now I have to get back to following Santa's current position. :-) Jane -- Jane Houston Jones Monrovia, CA 34.2048N 118.1732W, 637.0 feet http://www.whiteoaks.com Old Town Astronomers: http://www.otastro.org