<snip>
>Question of the Night: Is Mars closer to Earth now, than Venus is now?
> Hmmmm....
According to this diagram, today, Mars is much closer to the Earth than Venus
by about 90 million miles.
http://www.fourmilab.ch/cgi-bin/uncgi/Solar/action?sys=-Si
Rough distances put Earth about 50 million miles from Mars (+ or - 10 million
miles). Venus on the other hand is 1 astronomical unit plus almost the full
distance between the Sun and Venus away from the Earth, approximately 160
million miles (+ or - 25 million miles).
My guess would be: Earth to Mars: 55 million miles away
Earth to Venus: roughly 145 million miles away
Casey
PS the earthquake stuff earlier, just a joke ;-D Don't know if you recall a
guy about 10 or 15 years back predicting earthquakes by the alignment of the
planets.
> I wish the TV 76 had been mine. What a wonderful instrument. But it was
> Rich N. who set it up in front of my car, and let me use it all night.
>
> As Casey pointed out, the alignment of Mars, the Moon, the telephone
> pole, and the tree in the same FOV was stunning.
>
> We had a temperature inversion last night, but no laminar fog layer.
> When I left MB around midnight, temperatures were 75F bone dry. Mark's
> CPT was giving off sparks.
> At 280 and Page Mill, 61F.
>
> Question of the Night: Is Mars closer to Earth now, than Venus is now?
> Hmmmm....
>
> James
> http://www.SkyImageLab.com
>
>
>