Current Events: Mars

[Homicidalheathen]

Binoculars......

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 whenMars 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 modest75-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 at10p.m.and reach its azimuth at about3 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

>

>

>

>

[Homicidalheathen]

Aug 27th....I will be flying high on a pain induced adrenaline rush all day. I cannot wait to see the red planet that night!

[gothicmom]

didn't someone already post about this and it turned out to be a hoax? Maybe I'm getting my threads mixed up.

[Medea]

No, it's really happening, gothicmom.

[Guest Megalicious]

...........

[EvilEve]

well, it's only a few days away. i guess we'll the red planet when we see it.

[gothicmom]

Thats cool. I wish I could see. Too many lights around here.

[Troy Spiral (13)]

Odd that neither of the Astronomy magazines i read mentioned this in their august issues.

This months key event is the Persied meteor shower as far as i know.

[Troy Spiral (13)]

Thats cool.  I wish I could see.  Too many lights around here.

Mars is naked eye visible even in heavily light polluted areas regularly. (same for jupiter/venus/saturn...) Often the planets are the brightest "stars" in the sky , but to the naked eye they just seem like stars.

[Paint it Black]

http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/050708_mars_hoax.html

It's a hoax, for the most part.

This article says, and this bothered me when I first read the thread, that if Mars were close enough 'to be as big as a full moon' then it would mess with the earth's gravitational pull and cause some terrible tides to rise.

Anyways, the article says that in October Mars is supposed to be very xlose, they say it will look like a red pin prick in the sky and be the brightest object outside the sun, moon and venus (iirc).