August 27, 2003	Wednesday	Jumadi-us-Sani 28, 1424

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RAWALPINDI, Aug 26: The fascinating Mars is finally ready for its closeup and tonight (Wednesday night) one can easily have a lifetime encounter with the Red Planet that has long captivated the people on planet Earth.

“It has already entered the path where it would be closest to Earth, and would be reaching the nearest point by Wednesday evening,” an official of Space and Upper Atmospheric Research Commission said.

In Pakistan, people may not be able to exactly see the planet when it would be closest to earth at 3.50 pm. However, during the nighttime the planet, though 2,000 miles further away from the nearest encounter point, could be seen as an orange object. It would be brightest around midnight.

Astronomers say a huge dust storm has been raging over a large portion of the planet, which can obscure many surface features of the planet. However, it is being expected that the storm would be over by the time the two planets reach the closest point.

According to the astronomers, the Sun would be right behind the earth and in line with the Mars so the planet would be fully illuminated. Those living close to the equator would be able to get the best image. The Red Planet would be just over 34 million miles away. It was around 166 million miles away from the earth only 6 months back.

It could be seen with a naked eye and one does not require sophisticated binoculars to witness this historic event. Moreover, with the forecast of a moonless sky on Wednesday night, spotting Mars in the south-eastern sky would not be difficult.

To the naked eye, astronomers say, Mars would not be a very big mass, shining brightest, but not twinkling like the common stars. The planet is brighter than any other celestial body except for the Moon and the Venus.

When seen with an ordinary telescope, the observer may spot Mars’ reddish desert sand and the white icecaps that cover its southern pole.

Named after Roman God of War, Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun, is reddish in colour and features mountains, polar ice caps and giant volcanoes. Mars’ orbit is bigger and more eccentric than the one followed by Earth, which revolves around the Sun in a circular path.

Earth and Mars were this close 60,000 years back on September 12, 57,617 BC, astronomers say. Other significant encounters happened during the month of August in 1924, 1845 and 1766. The two planets are estimated to get so close again on August 28, 2287.

Space agencies worldwide taking advantage of this year’s celestial event have launched probes at Mars. A fleet of spacecraft are currently heading towards Mars.

Four space craft are on route to the red planet - two Nasa missions, Europe’s Mars Express and a Japanese orbiter. Nasa launched a pair of rovers, Spirit and Opportunity, which they hope, will land on the planet in January and hunt for signs of life.

Earth’s position vis-a-vis Sun and Mars, which the astronomers term as “opposition”, is being closely watched by the astrologers, some of whom have interpreted the current positions as an unlucky sign.

Mars portends violence, war, bloodshed and combat for the astrologers. To the ancient Persians, Mars was a celestial warrior and the Romans named the planet after their God of War.

“It bodes ill for the near future,” a local astrologer said and predicted a tough time ahead for the Jamali government with opposition getting stronger.

In India, the astrologers are so sure that some of them claim that the Bombay bombing was related to the misfortune arising out of the present positions of Mars, Sun and Earth. This spell of misfortune, according to astrologers, is likely to continue till late September, while others believe that it may continue till early December.