MARS SPECTACULAR!

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 at 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

I like the date for the next approach......2287! Somewhere in the TOS movies! Perhaps by then our Martian colonist-descendent brethren will be looking back at us!

8O

220 posts, btw

Well, that's EXCELENT

Except it's not true


August 27th 2003
And, although you're right, no one living will ever see Mars got that close, they'll still have plenty of situations to observe it in the night sky for years to come.

So, SPDS31Apoc, enough with it (though I belive it was an honest email misbelief)

I'm sure this century Mars will come virtually closer than it ever has been before. When the first human has set his feet upon mars, it's no matter how many miles are there in between.

It is semi-true. The closest Mars will come for quite a long time was in 2003... but it is going to be fairly close this year. There's a statement that NASA put out a few weeks ago because of this rumour Can't remember the link though.

No, the statement that mars is going to have the closest distance he will be in more than two centuries is actually true. It doesn't matter wether he was closer before. (Damn I'm more Vulcan than Romulan today ^^)

2287! Just after Kirk and co get back from saving the whales! I liked that movie

i was just sent the e-mail.. oops i didnt know