"As above, so below." May we send out so much positive energy to align with these great alignments!

Here are some links about amazing planetary conjunctions this month.. now!

Alignment and fulfillment to all, Teo


Hubble Telescope Image of Mars

With all of the beautiful pictures of Mars being released by the Mars Global Surveyor and Hubble Space Telescope teams, and the scientific debates over whether or not Mars harbored ancient life or had liquid water on its surface, we sometimes forget to stop and just take a look at the planet in the sky.

So, now's your chance. For the next month, Mars will be putting on quite a show, and all you have to do is look up. And, it is definitely worth the effort!

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Another rare astronomical event occurred 72 days after the conjunction of Jupiter and Venus, on August 27, 2 BC. This was a close grouping, or massing, of the planets Jupiter, Mars, Venus, and Mercury. It also occurred in the constellation Leo, and during the month of August when most of the Roman festivities for that unusual year were taking place. This was seen by astrologers as “common agreement of purpose”. It probably also signaled a new and powerful beginning for Rome and the rest of the known civilized world.

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This close conjunction has already been compared to the 2 B.C. conjunction of the same planets that is often identified as the Christmas Star in the book of Matthew.

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For many months astronomers around the globe have been waiting excitedly for the summer months of 2003. This is when the red world Mars and our own planet draw close together as they orbit the Sun. In fact, in August this year, Mars will be closer to the Earth than at any stage in the past 60,000 years.

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June 21, 2001

BCC telescopes provide good view of Mars' close encounter

By Brad Buck
FLORIDA TODAY
COCOA, Fla. - Mars is now at its best for viewing in more than a dozen years, and Brevard Community Colleges Planetarium and Observatory provides a good view.

The planet makes its closest approach to Earth today, when it will be 42 million miles away.

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Let’s start with dry facts: On June 13, Mars will reach its opposition to the Sun, that is, it will stand just opposite to the Sun in the sky, and shine all the night. Here comes the first “however”: these June nights are the shortest nights of the year, so Mars’ domination is not that long. To take a specific example, let’s consider the night of Saturday, June 9/10, very close to the opposition date (the time differences between June 10 and 13 are insignificant).

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May you find yourself in the world, and may you enjoy the company.

Thank you Teo.

This is extraordinary information. I did not know any of this. I am very much interested in all forms of space exploration. Someday I'm sure we will be travelling to far away galaxies.

Mars has two sattelites, Phobos and Deimos.
Here is an illustation of Phobos, which turns about Mars faster than Mars rotates about its own axis.
Phobos is full of craters, some of them are so large that pieces of the sattelite were chipped off when it suffered impacts.

Here is a shot of Mars
from its other sattelite, Deimos.

Thank you for all this information. I did not know this. I guess I missed it now.

Vicky

thank you for this information....has anyOne seen Mars from their back yard? last night I went out to "look" and the sky was cloudy here in Southern Pines...I plan to keep looking!! love, Carolyn

Highly interesting topic, dear Teo. At the seaside I have contemplated the starry sky and was just in awe. I think I have spotted Mars also from home, even though I don't see a vast portion of the sky, but it is unmistakeably red, so it should be the one! I have a nephew who is a passionate astro-observer, he made me look through the telescope and I just had goosebumps observing very clearly Saturn and seing its rings! Wow! Now he is on holidays, otherwise I would ask him if I am right about Mars' location. There is an enormously sparkling star in another portion of the sky and I thought it was Venus, but I read here on one of the sites you share, that Venus is not visible this month. So I wonder what other star is so incredibly brilliant.
I so enjoy gazing at the stars ...
Love, Margherita

Mars has left us for many more centuries,
but I found these wonderful shots taken with the hubble space telescope. I need to share this with you.

Love, Inda