starexplorer writes "Space.com is reporting that a large dust storm has just began on Mars, just as the Red Planet has gotten in prime viewing location this weekend with a decent sized backyard telescope. An amazing stroke of luck for everyone this weekend! Three PDF Viewing Guides, movies and more available to help get you started."Ads_xl=0;Ads_yl=0;Ads_xp='';Ads_yp='';Ads_xp1='';Ads_yp1='';Ads_par='';Ads_cnturl='';Ads_prf='page=article';Ads_channels='RON_P6_IMU';Ads_wrd='space,science';Ads_kid=0;Ads_bid=0;Ads_sec=0; New Dust Storm on Mars Viewable with Telescopes Log in/Create an Account | Top | 82 comments | Search Discussion Display Options Threshold: -1: 82 comments 0: 79 comments 1: 59 comments 2: 41 comments 3: 14 comments 4: 5 comments 5: 3 comments Flat Nested No Comments Threaded Oldest First Newest First Highest Scores First Oldest First (Ignore Threads) Newest First (Ignore Threads) The Fine Print: The following comments are owned by whoever posted them. We are not responsible for them in any way. Viewable with My Telescope? (Score:3, Funny) by ackthpt (218170) * on Friday October 28, @07:39PM (#13901229) (http://www.dragonswest.com/ | Last Journal: Thursday February 24, @01:27PM) I've got a Meade 125-ETX, I wonder how visible this will be. The last time Mars was close and I lugged the scope out It was mostly a brown smudge.Mars will be 43,137,071 miles from Earth at around 11:25 p.m. ET Saturday. That's 13,803,862,720 rods for the anti-science crowd. [ Reply to ThisRe:Viewable with My Telescope? by eingram (Score:2) Friday October 28, @07:42PMRe:Viewable with My Telescope? by Rob_Ogilvie (Score:3) Friday October 28, @07:48PMRe:Viewable with My Telescope? by eingram (Score:3) Friday October 28, @07:55PMRe:Viewable with My Telescope? by Taladar (Score:2) Friday October 28, @10:27PMRe:Viewable with My Telescope? by Alien Being (Score:1) Friday October 28, @08:01PMRe:Viewable with My Telescope? by MarkRose (Score:2) Friday October 28, @08:14PMRe:Viewable with My Telescope? by Limburgher (Score:3) Friday October 28, @07:46PMRe:Viewable with My Telescope? by ackthpt (Score:1) Friday October 28, @07:48PMRe:Viewable with My Telescope? by MarkRose (Score:2) Friday October 28, @08:11PMRe:Viewable with My Telescope? by SeventyBang (Score:2) Friday October 28, @10:10PMRe:Viewable with My Telescope? by MarkRose (Score:1) Friday October 28, @10:55PMRe:Viewable with My Telescope? by Agret (Score:2) Friday October 28, @08:01PMRe:Viewable with My Telescope? by ezzzD55J (Score:2) Friday October 28, @09:12PM Re:Viewable with My Telescope? (Score:5, Informative) by deathcow (455995) * on Friday October 28, @07:47PM (#13901320) With a Meade 125-ETX, assuming 1) the system is working well, and 2) you keep your diagonals and eyepieces clean, and 3) your atmospheric seeing conditions are OK, you should be able to observe the dust storm as a bright patch on the planet. You would be able to see the dark and light "albedo" regions of the planet and find the dust storm based on them.The features of Mars can be quite subtle. It will help if you are warm, sitting comfortably, and able to watch for a long enough period to experience good moments of atmospheric seeing.The more time you observe, the greater your chances of getting those unusual moments of clarity. Many, MANY people will spend about 5 minutes looking at Mars in variably moderate seeing and give up on it. This is not the way to see the most your telescope has to offer.Mike [ Reply to This | ParentRe:Viewable with My Telescope? by matr0x_x (Score:1) Friday October 28, @08:08PMAnd as I've noticed by CiXeL (Score:2) Friday October 28, @09:29PMRe:And as I've noticed by 19thNervousBreakdown (Score:1) Friday October 28, @09:51PM1 reply beneath your current threshold. Mars Dust Bad! (Score:5, Interesting) by deathcow (455995) * on Friday October 28, @07:39PM (#13901236) While this is exciting for amateur astronomers to see a process like this happening on Mars, it's also very forboding and ominous. Mars has a bad habit of becoming engulfed in planet wide dust storms which almost totally hide the surface features of the planet.I am sure many amateurs like myself would prefer NO dust storms on Mars while it is so close to the Earth, and so favorably positioned for Northern hemisphere observers. This has been a great Mars apparition so far, I've watched it growing in the eyepiece since August. If the dust stays clear, Mars will be large enough to enjoy until almost February. If it turns into a cloudy red ball, well...This page shows a dust storm growing from the 2003 apparition of Mars, and a picture of the dreaded featureless red ball.http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2003/09jul_mars dust.htm [nasa.gov] [ Reply to This Re:Mars Dust Bad! (Score:4, Funny) by ackthpt (218170) * on Friday October 28, @07:41PM (#13901259) (http://www.dragonswest.com/ | Last Journal: Thursday February 24, @01:27PM) While this is exciting for amateur astronomers to see a process like this happening on Mars, it's also very forboding and ominous. Mars has a bad habit of becoming engulfed in planet wide dust storms which almost totally hide the surface features of the planet. Also plays havoc with tracking giant sand worms and collecting spice. [ Reply to This | ParentRe:Mars Dust Bad! by Cruithne (Score:1) Friday October 28, @07:42PMRe:Mars Dust Bad! by MichaelSmith (Score:3) Friday October 28, @07:48PMRe:Mars Dust Bad! by Stephen Samuel (Score:2) Saturday October 29, @12:27AMRe:Mars Dust Bad! by MarkRose (Score:2) Friday October 28, @08:00PMRovers by stevesliva (Score:2) Friday October 28, @08:19PMRe:Rovers by antdude (Score:2) Friday October 28, @08:28PMRe:Rovers by jacksonj04 (Score:3) Friday October 28, @08:45PMRe:Mars Dust Bad! by Doug Coulter (Score:1) Friday October 28, @08:34PM To complex (Score:3) by spikexyz (403776) on Friday October 28, @07:40PM (#13901250) Dust storms are obviously complex events with particles going in all sort of directions...clearly indicate the existance of an intelligent dust storm causer. [ Reply to This2 replies beneath your current threshold. Lucky? (Score:5, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Friday October 28, @07:41PM (#13901260) An amazing stroke of luck for everyone this weekend!Not if you live on Mars. [ Reply to ThisRe:Lucky? by MarkRose (Score:2) Friday October 28, @08:05PMRe:Lucky? by 19thNervousBreakdown (Score:1) Friday October 28, @09:56PM1 reply beneath your current threshold. Not a dust storm ... (Score:4, Funny) by b3x (586838) on Friday October 28, @07:45PM (#13901301) (Last Journal: Saturday September 03, @08:53AM) Its just a herd of RIAA lawyers migrating [ Reply to This1 reply beneath your current threshold. Not Viewable ... (Score:1, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Friday October 28, @07:56PM (#13901397) VISIBLE!!!I'll never read Slashdot again. [ Reply to ThisRe:Not Viewable ... by pla (Score:2) Friday October 28, @08:17PMRe:Not Viewable ... by WidescreenFreak (Score:2) Friday October 28, @08:32PM1 reply beneath your current threshold. Mars very good (Score:1) by danielyucra (926756) on Friday October 28, @08:02PM (#13901454) (http://www.softwarelibre.org.pe/) Mars always was great from the Earth, with the unica difference that this time will be seen 69 million kilometers of the Earth [ Reply to This Bad for astronauts (Score:1, Troll) by Nutria (679911) on Friday October 28, @08:07PM (#13901494) Who wants to go explore and live on a planet where there are regular "continent-sized" dust storms?Not I.Face it: humans evolved in the specific circumstances of the surface of the Earth, and until we can create a practical high-energy source that allows for heavily-shielded spaceships/habitats, it will be extremely expensive to keep humans alive & healthy anywhere else. [ Reply to ThisRe:Bad for astronauts by Somegeek (Score:3) Friday October 28, @08:40PMRe:Bad for astronauts by Nutria (Score:2) Friday October 28, @11:21PM Central star? (Score:1) by azatht (740027) on Friday October 28, @08:16PM (#13901560) (http://aza-toth.blogspot.com/) Earth is closer to the Sun, so it effectively passes Mars every 26 months as both worlds orbit the central star. Does we orbit any other stars? [ Reply to ThisRe:Central star? by 3vi1 (Score:2) Friday October 28, @08:41PM1 reply beneath your current threshold. Since nobody's mentioned it yet... (Score:2, Funny) by azuroff (318072) on Friday October 28, @08:21PM (#13901602) It's all Bush's fault!!It's not bad enough that he has to screw up one planet's climate, now he's messing with Mars! If only he had signed that Kyoto treaty... [ Reply to This1 reply beneath your current threshold. Sure sign of intelligence! (Score:2) by llamalicious (448215) on Friday October 28, @08:22PM (#13901616) (Last Journal: Friday September 09, @03:40PM) Those martians really are an introverted crowd, throwing up a big dust storm to prevent all of us perverted peeping humans from getting a look at their wives' nighties through their windows! [ Reply to This Wait a minute... (Score:1) by Pichu0102 (916292) <pichu0102@gmail.com> on Friday October 28, @08:25PM (#13901629) (http://twopi.ath.cx/ | Last Journal: Friday September 30, @12:06AM) How is Mars having a dust storm? What is causing it? I thought energy can't be produced? [ Reply to ThisRe:Wait a minute... by tzot (Score:2) Friday October 28, @08:35PMRe:Wait a minute... by GumphMaster (Score:1) Friday October 28, @10:55PM In Case of Slashdotting - Backyard View of Mars (Score:3, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Friday October 28, @08:32PM (#13901681) .The storm can be clearly seen in the equatorial region. [ Reply to This Amateur power . . . (Score:2, Informative) by flug (589009) on Friday October 28, @09:42PM (#13902079) This is a great example of the type of work that can and is still being done by amateur astronomers.(Actually Clay Sherrod, who seems to be the first to have imaged this storm, isn't an amateur but he's active in the ALPO Mars section which consists mainly of amateurs and he images at a small observatory, not some huge government funded observatory with various gigantic telescopes.)The thing is, the big expensive government funded telescopes, or the Hubble, for example, can take better photos of Mars than amateurs can. But there is the question of coverage . . . the big expensive telescopes just don't have the resources (ie, observing time) to image Mars (or any other particular object or planet) several times a night whenever that object is visible.But amateurs do have the observing time available and they do the work . . . result is, amateurs do a lot of the meat & potatoes of keeping an eye on things like Mars or Jupiter.More of Sherrod's photos of the beginning of the Mars dust storm [arksky.org] and numerous photos of this Mars apparition [arksky.org]. Since Sherrod is imaging Mars pretty much every possible night, he was on the spot to catch this as it happened . . . Also, if you haven't been following trends in astro-imaging, you may be amazed at the quality of images people are now getting using relatively modest telescopes (generally 8 to 14 inch scopes, the sort of thing you can buy basically off the shelf for maybe $800 to $5000) coupled with inexpensive webcams.See numerous amateur astronomer's images of this apparition of Mars here [arizona.edu]. (warning--LOTS of images on that page). [ Reply to This Those poor Martians... (Score:1) by 19thNervousBreakdown (768619) <davec-slashdot@@@lepertheory...net> on Friday October 28, @09:47PM (#13902095) (http://www.lepertheory.net/) ... are down there suffering in that storm, and all we can do is talk about how cool it is.George Bush doesn't care about green people. With tentacles. And big bug eyes. Mind control devices. Heat rays, anti-gravity belts, uranium PU-32 space modulators... [ Reply to This What about the rovers that just wont quit (Score:2, Interesting) by elfarto (650512) on Friday October 28, @10:35PM (#13902286) I wonder how this storm my affect the twin rovers on mars ?Has anyone heard about this issue ? [ Reply to This pressure (Score:1) by zogger (617870) on Friday October 28, @11:05PM (#13902439) (http://technocrat.net/ | Last Journal: Monday August 22, @11:57AM) Atmospheric pressure on mars is ~ 1% of Earth pressure (just googled that). That's a lot of giant dust storm with not much gasses to move it around, eh wot? The dust must be ultra fine and very light for this to happen. [ Reply to This I wonder what the rovers will report? (Score:2) by Billly Gates (198444) on Friday October 28, @11:11PM (#13902466) (http://www.livejournal.com/users/sinistertim101 | Last Journal: Sunday September 18, @02:24PM) This assumes the dust storm travels over any one of them.Maybe another power boast? Or would there be any scientific value of observing one huge storm through the cameras of the rovers? [ Reply to This Global Warming? (Score:2) by TummyX (84871) on Friday October 28, @11:39PM (#13902597) This is ridiculous. The ever increasing power of these storms is a clear example of the bushitler administration's refusal to sign the kyoto protocol. At this rate, how are we going to reach the trended goal of a 0.00108 C temperature drop by 2050? [ Reply to This Re:What was the sweet smell in NYC? (Score:2) by madaxe42 (690151) on Friday October 28, @08:00PM (#13901430) That's weird - we had the same in London today?! Kinda like caramel, all down the Thames. [ Reply to This | Parent Re:Awesome. Who Knew?? (Score:2) by technoextreme (885694) on Friday October 28, @08:04PM (#13901471) 30 years ago, I learned in frickin' catholic elementary school that Mars had high-speed winds (on the order of a couple hundred knots), common massive unpredictable dust storms, and other nutty stuff going on, including weird volcanoes and possible large magnitude earth quakes. It would therefore be an almost impossible place to visit. Elton John made a similar point. And if he can agree with the nuns, then there must be some truth to it.Yes that is a great idea. Let's base our whole opinion of a Mars mission on the opinion of a bunch of nuns and a muscian. They are truly more qualified than a sicentist. Also, Im not sure but I can't find anything about plate tectonics currently being active on Mars. I know there is evidence supporting that it did happen but I don't know if it is currently happening. Do you have any information. [ Reply to This | Parent1 reply beneath your current threshold. Re:Awesome. Who Knew?? (Score:2) by MarkRose (820682) on Friday October 28, @08:19PM (#13901593) Not quite. The atmosphere on Venus is many times denser than that on Earth. Until we knocked a lot of the gas out of the atmosphere, we'd have to live in pressure suits or stay high in the air. Also, the atmosphere is full of sulphuric compounds which would have to be neutralised. Venus already has a lot of water, however, all the surface water has been vapourised -- the planet suffers from a run away greenhouse effect. [ Reply to This | Parent1 reply beneath your current threshold. Re:Voyager 2 observed dust storms (Score:1) by jftitan (736933) <jftitan AT satx DOT rr DOT com> on Friday October 28, @09:25PM (#13901983) (http://hackers.mu/snx/jftitan) HA HA, Ass.... [ Reply to This | Parent Re:Awesome. Who Knew?? (Score:1) by Toloran (858954) on Friday October 28, @09:39PM (#13902063) Mars is techtonically dead so earthquakes don't happen. Also, a "couple hundred knots" of wind isn't as impressive on Mars as it is on Earth. Winds on earth that qualify as hurricane speeds on earth, would feel more like a light breeze on Mars due to the low air pressure.Also, if we want create a colony on another celestial body besides the moon, Mars would be the best choice. Venus is way too hot and has major acid rain. Moons are a bad idea because prolonged exposure to low G environments can cause health problems. Mars, even if it has high winds, is the most similar to earth. It would also be easier to colonize with our current level of technology then venus would. [ Reply to This | Parent7 replies beneath your current threshold.