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[Chicago Astronomer - Astro Joe]

Earth slides across the Sun's face from Mars - 2084 A.D.

No one has ever seen a transit of Earth from Mars, but the next one will take place on November 10 2084, and could be observed by hypothetical future Mars colonists. The last such transit took place on May 11 1984.

A 1971 science fiction short story by Arthur C. Clarke entitled Transit of Earth was about a doomed astronaut on Mars observing the 1984 transit; setting the story in 1984 turned out to be too optimistic. The short story was first published in the January 1971 issue of Playboy magazine.

Of course, observers on Mars can also see transits of Mercury and transits of Venus, as well as transits of Phobos and transits of Deimos.

Transits of Earth from Mars follow a 284-year cycle, occurring at intervals of 100.5, 79, 25.5, 79 years in either May or November. This cycle corresponds fairly closely to 151 Mars orbits, 284 Earth orbits, and 133 synodic periods, and is analogous to the cycle of transits of Venus from Earth, which follow a cycle of 243 years (121.5, 8, 105.5, 8).

A transit of Earth from Mars corresponds to Mars being perfectly uniformly illuminated at opposition from Earth, its phase being 180.0° without any defect of illumination. This permitted Charles Augustus Young to attempt a careful measurement of the oblateness (polar compression) of Mars during the 1879 event. He obtained the value 1/219, or 0.0046. This is close to the modern value of 1/154 (many sources will cite somewhat different values, such as 1/193, because even a difference of only a couple of km in the values of Mars' polar and equatorial radii gives a considerably different result).

More here: www.answers.com/topic/transit-of-earth-from-mars

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I am reading Arthur C. Clarke's "The Snows of Olympus", an illustrated story of Man's colonization of Mars, in where he discusses the transit of Earth as seen from the surface of Mars. I thought I would post this actual future event here at the Chicago Astronomer.

It would be quite cool to witness...

[Centaur]

I actually read that story in 1971 (after taking a quick peek at the centerfold.) ;D Yes indeed, while astronauts were still being sent to the Moon, it was generally assumed that men would be on Mars by 1984. The description was of a double transit as seen from Mars: The Earth followed by the Moon, which was a waxing gibbous as seen from our planet. The situation will be similar in 2084. Let’s plan for a transit party on Mars in November of that year.

[Chicago Astronomer - Astro Joe]

after taking a quick peek at the centerfold

Curt you devil you...heh.

Do you remember the film, Que Vadis or a similar themed movie? Wasn't it in that movie that the crucifixion scene was filmed during an actual Solar Eclipse?

A one shot take.

I'll bring the Martini's for the transit!...

[Centaur]

admin said:

Wasn't it in that movie that the crucifixion scene was filmed during an actual Solar Eclipse?

That was the film Barabbas. In contradiction, some biblical legends have the crucifiction occurring during a Solar Eclipse, and others have it near the time of a Full Moon. The best candidate for a Solar Eclipse would have occurred on 29 AD NOV 24 with the path of totality passing very close to Jerusalem. The often cited eclipse of 33 AD MAR 19 was not even partial in Jerusalem. The Full Moon interpretation is in harmony with the belief that the crucifiction happened during Passover. Since 325 AD, the Catholic Church has scheduled Easter for the first Sunday after the first Full Moon after March 21 (Vernal Equinox). Hmmm - could there have been astrologers among the bishops attending the first Council of Nicaea?

In more recent history, the path of the Annular Eclipse of 1879 JAN 22 passed near Isandlwana in Zululand, the scene of the worst military disaster in British colonial history: 1300 dead, 55 survivors. One of the factors was the difficulty of seeing through gun smoke during an eclipse.

[Rocketman]

Centaur, you are sharper than a tack dude!

[Rocketman]

Hmm I listen to a band named Quo Vadis...

[Chicago Astronomer - Astro Joe]

Hmm I listen to a band named Quo Vadis

Hee hee...Grady,

What type of tunes do "Quo Vadis" perform?

[Rocketman]

Metal (real metal) of course! \m/

[Rocketman]

2084... that's depressing!

[Maddad]

admin said:

No one has ever seen a transit of Earth from Mars, but the next one will take place on November 10 2084 . . . It would be quite cool to witness...

Hmmm. I'll only be 131. I could go.

[Chicago Astronomer - Astro Joe]

Hmmmm and I'll be 122.

Let's start the preservation process and ready ourselves for the transit by intaking mass amounts of alcohol and eating twinkies. Everyone knows that twinkies last forever!

[Centaur]

No need to wait folks. I frequently watch the Earth occult the Sun. It's called nighttime.