Mars


The Red Planet is about to be spectacular!

This month and next, Earth is catching up with Mars in an encounter that will culminate in the closest approach between the two planets in recorded history. The next time Mars may come this close is in 2287. Due to the way Jupiter's gravity tugs on Mars and perturbs its orbit, astronomers can only be certain that Mars has not come this close to Earth in the Last 5,000 years, but it may be as long as 60,000 years before it happens again.

The encounter will culminate on August 27th when Mars comes to within 34,649,589 miles of Earth and will be (next to the moon) the brightest object in the night sky. It will attain a magnitude of -2.9 and will appear 25.11 arc seconds wide. At a modest 75-power magnification

Mars will look as large as the full moon to the naked eye. Mars will be easy to spot. At the beginning of August it will rise in the east 10p.m. and reach its azimuth at about 3 a.m.

By the end of August when the two planets are closest, Mars will rise at nightfall and reach its highest point in the sky at 12:30a.m. That's pretty convenient to see something that no human being has seen in recorded history. So, mark your calendar at the beginning of August to see Mars grow progressively brighter and brighter throughout the month.

Share this with your children and grandchildren.

NO ONE ALIVE TODAY WILL EVER SEE THIS AGAIN

NO and NO.

BTW, the second link is really good for beginning sky watchers. We always check it before going out away from city lights.

This semi-hoax goes back to '03 - Mars reached its closest opposition for many millenia on 8/27/03 - that part's true.

There are 60 arcseconds to an arcminute, and 60 arcminutes per angular degree. The full moon averages 30' (arc minutes, or 1,800 arcSECONDS). Mars in '03 was ~25" (arcSECONDS)in apparent diameter, or about 72X smaller than the apparent diameter of the Moon.

So whoever originated that statement (when it was current) didn't do all that well in 5th grade math...

These are reliable sites:
http://www.space.com/
http://stardate.org/
http://www.heavens-above.com/ (great info on satellites, including "Iridium flares", brilliant reflections of sunlight off the solar panels of the Iridium satellites)

Well ya see, we have here a site that not only keeps us up on Barth stuff, but helps answer questions posed by somewhat gullible people like me. I can't figure why somebody would want to lie about something that seems like it would be of no profit or benefit to anyone, but apparently there are those out there who do such things for reasons we can only guess at. Thanks to all for the clarification and to Dave for editing what was supposed to be a simple forward. Lesson learned!!

Danny, they got me, too. Last week.

Being me, I immediately created a file and started researching, only to find out it was not true.

Often I receive forwards that seem too good to be true, or too bad to be true, & some that just sound slightly fishy.

An excellent source to check the veracity of such items is the Urban Legend Reference Pages at snopes.com.

I've even managed to get a couple inveterate forwarders of this garbage to check their stuff before they send it, which cuts down on the amount of spam I receive.

Et tu Mr. Gorsky?

Danny, I share your pain, Mr. Gorsky is an urban legend too.

And that clinches it, if you ask me. Unless, of course, you're one of those who believes the lunar landing itself was a hoax, in which case the point is entirely moot.


Timothy

Which brings up another hoax, that says the Moon landings have been confirmed by photos from Hubble (and land-based scopes) that have images of the Lunar Rovers and the American flags the astronauts left behind. Even the 10-meter Kecks don't have enough resolution for that.

BTW, ever wonder just who [Edwin C.] Hubble was and what he did to get a billion-dollar instrument named for himself?

Uh...Rusty, you being astronomically astute, you don't surely believe that we landed on the Moon do you... Another CIA plot.

quote:

Originally posted by timnlana:
Unless, of course, you're one of those who believes the lunar landing itself was a hoax, in which case the point is entirely moot.

That's the only thing agents Scully and Moulder didn't try to discover if "The truth is out there"

Bill N.Y.

quote:

Originally posted by Dave Bowers:
Uh...Rusty, you being astronomically astute, you don't surely believe that we landed on the Moon do you... Another CIA plot.

I have the proof, but if I disclosed it to you, well...I'd have to shoot you....