thought this was cool- Mars in August

[rayoflight]

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.

[infinitevalence]

if it really ends up being as large as the moon to the eye, thats nuts. I really cant wait to see that.

[Zelig]

Beware the Mars Hoax

[infinitevalence]

good find

[-mogwai]

i KNEW it.... whenever i heard it, i thought "oh, good.... we all dead!" because there's no way that mars' gravitational pull wouldn't throw the moon and earth out of whack and cause volcanos and tsunamis and doomsday.

however, i was still extremely hopeful that i was wrong and i'd be able to set up an amazing date with some girl back home

[Sovereign]

Yeah well if I get to see Mars (huge or not) I'm happy cause it meant I actually went outside.

[gvblake22]

Beware the Mars Hoax

HAHA, thanks for the heads up Zelig. Should still be pretty cool to see!

[NAiLs]

i KNEW it.... whenever i heard it, i thought "oh, good.... we all dead!" because there's no way that mars' gravitational pull wouldn't throw the moon and earth out of whack and cause volcanos and tsunamis and doomsday.

however, i was still extremely hopeful that i was wrong and i'd be able to set up an amazing date with some girl back home

Yea. I kinda figured it was fake myself. Mars would have to be pretty damn close to be as big as the moon. People kept saying, "No way man! It's really going to be that close!"

I wonder, now that you say that about volcanoes, could that possibly trigger Yellowstone? That would suck horribly!

[InFuZiOn]

Brian you're such a nerd

[Zelig]

i KNEW it.... whenever i heard it, i thought "oh, good.... we all dead!" because there's no way that mars' gravitational pull wouldn't throw the moon and earth out of whack and cause volcanos and tsunamis and doomsday.

however, i was still extremely hopeful that i was wrong and i'd be able to set up an amazing date with some girl back home

"Come on, we're going to die anyway, what do you have to lose?"

[Yair]

haha i would have never guessed this is a hoax actually
http://www.hoax-slayer.com/mars-earth-close.html

it seems to be old news, happened in 2003

[Jombie]

yO, read it carefully.

"At a modest 75-power magnification"

The sentence above is not a complete sentence. That sentence actually carries on to the sentence below:


"Mars will look as large as the full moon to the naked eye."

This is how you should read it:

*At a modest 75-power magnification Mars will look as large as the full moon to the naked eye.

So basically, You will not see Mars the size of a full moon by looking up at it in the sky, you need a telescope, or very good binoculars that have 75-power magnification.

I find this somewhat of a contradiction though, because it says "to the naked eye", which means without the use of anything special to enhance and/or zoom your vision, and I can assure you, my naked eyes do not burden any modest 75-power magnification vision.

I'm not exactly sure what they are trying to say, but it shouldn't be of any concern.

on August 27th, if you have a telescope, bust it out and check out Mars. Through that you will find "The Red Planet" the size of a full moon (at modest 75-power magnification).

I dont even know if any of you will get my message anyway, I don't know how long ago this topic was posted. Oh well...

One more thing before I disclose:

Itz all about Macintosh
Microsoft = Bleh >_<
Apple = Reliable! ^_^
I hope my post is appreciated.. Best to all of you!

-Jombie

[Trevor]

Yeah, I saw it back in 2003. All it looked like was a little red dot nothing amazing.

[Amy]

I kept getting that email in my inbox and I kept replying, saying that I thought we already went through the whole "mars is closer than it will ever be in our lifetime" thing a year or two ago...