Algol Loc: Georgia

Here is a sample of images that I took of the planet Mars during it's very close approach to the Earth in 2003. Mars at it's closest approach was at a distance of about 32 million miles. The white spot near the limb at the 5:00 o'clock position on the first image is the giant volcano Olympus Mons, it is one of the higest mountains in the solar system, dwarfing Mt. Everest. It is 14 miles high and 370 miles wide at it's base.
By October the planet had receeded further from the Earth and was then showing a gibbous phas.

Aug. 24, 2003


Sep. 1, 2003


Sep. 4, 2003


Oct. 1, 2003

Bloke Loc: Waynesboro, Pennsylvania

Great! I still had my telescope back then, and spent some time watching it, although I didn't have a camera capable of using.

According to the articles I read, that was the closest that Mars has been to the Earth in more than 60,000 years. That means, last time around, it was Neanderthals who were watching it... Makes you think, hm...

Algol Loc: Georgia

Yes, I recalled it was a close approach but could not remember the details. I also remember that every August for several years afterward a notice would appear on computers all over the world of the coming close approach of Mars. The poor uninformed people who kept sending that info out were incapable of understang celestial mechanics and orbits.