+ Mars | Second Moon

Have always been intriqued with the night sky since my childhood.

Lived in a village sandwiched between a rubber and coconut plantation. The sky as I remembered was very clear and bright at night, except for the scheduled loud noise made by the commercial airplanes landing at the Paya Lebar Airport.

Yes, all that tranquility marred by the noise polutions from the airplanes flying past the village which was very close to the airport. The airport soon moved to a much larger location in Changi, well reknowned today as Changi International Airport, a few years after the whole villagers moved to the Tampines.

Would sit in front of my house outside the verandah with friends talking about nothings and stare at the night sky. I would dream of being a cosmonaut with space station and rockets docked very right above my home.

Would always see shooting stars and dreamt of alien spaceships hovering over earth, mimicking one of the many bright dots in the night sky.

In those recurring dreams, those dots would suddenly move from its position in the sky to another strategic location and stop.

Some would move slowly like in convoys and dissappear from the sky. All these were oblivious to us except me, but could never explain to anyone, as no one would believe me.

Wonder what brought about those dreams and what actually my subconscious mind was telling me. Until today, I have yet to find and answer.

I am not sure if I will start to have those types of dreams again when I receive an email from my friend David, stating that Planet Mars will be closest to earth this August month in 2005.

This news gets me all excited again about the cosmos and would not miss to witness it, since it is a once in a life time phenomenon. The next one would be in year 2287. My dusty remains would have already disintegrated by then.

Sharing my excitement is my son. He brought out the telescope I bought him last year from the store and started to assemble it again.

This time he assembled it all by himself without a manual. He figured which part goes to where first time right. Bright boy, independent and resourceful. Proud of him.

We are going to watch the night skies starting tonight, though it is not as promising we will see anything since it has been cloudy and rained for the past few days. The forest fires raging in Sumatra Indonesia may also get the skies hazy.

Nonetheless, will try to get a view and take photos of the "Two Moons" if they do occur to be seen from where we are.

Anyway, below is the email excerpt I received with exact details of the phenomenon. I guess it would have originated from NASA's site, though the info in that website mentioned that the closest both planets got was in year 2003.

NO ONE ALIVE TODAY WILL EVER SEE THIS AGAIN.

The Red Planet (MARS) is about to be spectacular!

This month and next, Earth is catching up with Mars in an encounter that will culminate in the closest approach between the two planets in recorded history.

The next time Mars may come this close is in 2287.

Due to the way Jupiter's gravity tugs on Mars and perturbs its orbit, astronomers can only be certain that Mars has not come this close to Earth in the last 5,000 years, but it may be as long as 60,000 years before it happens again.

The encounter will culminate on August 27th when Mars comes to within 34,649,589 miles of Earth and will be (next to the moon) the brightest object in the night sky.

It will attain a magnitude of -2.9 and will appear 25.11 arc seconds wide.

By August 27, Mars will look as large as the full moon to the naked eye. Mars will be easy to spot.

At the beginning of August it will rise in the east at 10p.m. and reach its azimuth at about 3 a.m.

By the end of August when the two planets are closest, Mars will rise at nightfall and reach its highest point in the sky at 12:30a.m.

That's pretty convenient to see something that no human being has seen in recorded history. So, mark your calendar at the beginning of August to see Mars grow progressivelybrighter and brighter throughout the month.

More info from NASA's Jet Propulsion Lab. Click logo below.