Don`t miss your date with Mars tomorrow

Kolkata, Aug 26: If you miss sighting Mars in the south eastern sky past twilight tomorrow, chances are that none among your thousands of generations down the line might actually get a similar opportunity.
The red planet, that has come closest to Earth in over 60,000 years, is burning bright for a fortnight now but would be at its scarlet best through August 27 night till dawn.
At a distance of only 55.8 million km away from Earth, this rare cosmic view would be captured through thousands of telescopes across the globe by professional and amateur sky gazers hoping to gather crucial data on Earth's enigmatic neighbour.
"This would be an opportunity of a lifetime," says director of the Positional Astronomy Centre (PAC) B K Mandal. "Not only would it give us the thrill associated with a rare celestial phenomenon but would answer very deep questions perturbing mankind for hundreds of years."
Armed with two telescopes, a six-inch and the other 11-inch, a core team of PAC astrophysicists would make the most of the night. But they are keeping their fingers crossed for a clear sky.

"The Martian surface is a sky gazer's delight. We are praying that the sky remains cloud free," Mandal says.

During the great 'opposition' of Mars, as the phenomenon is called in astrophysical terms, one should look for a brilliant beacon shining with a steady ochre glow in the south eastern sky, two hours after local sunset.

A sight to behold, mars would not twinkle and would outshine any other celestial object tomorrow night, says senior scientist of the M P Birla planetarium Dr Debiprosad Duari.
Bureau Report