vegetablebelay Posted July 30, 2003 Posted July 30, 2003 Thought I'd share this email I received...... Never again in your lifetime will the Red Planet be so spectacular! > > This month and next, Earth is catching up with Mars, 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. > > On August 27, Mars will come within 34,649,589 miles 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, Mars will rise in the east at 10 p.m. and > reach its azimuth at about 3 a.m. But 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 12:30 a.m. That's pretty convenient when > it comes to seeing something that no human 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 with your friends, children and grandchildren. No one alive today > will ever see this again! Quote
lummox Posted July 30, 2003 Posted July 30, 2003 i been seeing it lately around midnight. its fuckin bright. freaky bright. Quote
Dru Posted July 31, 2003 Posted July 31, 2003 That's pretty convenient when > it comes to seeing something that no human has seen in > recorded history. recorded history goes back more than 5000 years..... i mean its cool and all but this is kinda hype. the harmonic convergence was more interesting. ya ever notice how the "once in a lifetime" astronomical events seem to happen about once every 3 years? Quote
catbirdseat Posted July 31, 2003 Posted July 31, 2003 As we were hiking up the Emmons Glacier, one of the guys on my rope team looks up and says, "Hey, I see another rope team coming down". I thought, WTF, we were the first team out of camp that morning. I can't be. I looked up and said, "Dude, it's just Mars". "Oh, duh". The planet was just above the skyline of Rainier and it was as bright as I'd ever seen it. Quote
EWolfe Posted July 31, 2003 Posted July 31, 2003 Does Mars need women because Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus Quote
Dr_Flash_Amazing Posted July 31, 2003 Posted July 31, 2003 Dru said: That's pretty convenient when > it comes to seeing something that no human has seen in > recorded history. recorded history goes back more than 5000 years..... i mean its cool and all but this is kinda hype. the harmonic convergence was more interesting. ya ever notice how the "once in a lifetime" astronomical events seem to happen about once every 3 years? Dru, it's cynical Canadians like yourself that are ruining pop-culturally interesting, feel-good astronomical happenings like this one. Criticism like this dampens the enthusiasm of junior astronomers, and is demonstrably damaging to the burgeoning binocular industry both in America and abroad. In summation, please refrain from further disparagement of this and other celestial goings on such as eclipses, meteor showers, near-collisions with other planets, etc. Thank you, and good day! Quote
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