Stargazers unite!!!

[Guest]

Just an email i received that i thought would be worth sharing. If it is true, then it should be quite an awesome sight!!!

NO ONE ALIVE TODAY WILL EVER SEE THIS AGAIN.
The Red Planet (MARS) 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. By August 27, 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 family, friends, children and grandchildren!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Cheers, Alan.

 

[Sdaji]

I've recieved this email from a few people now. I was terribly excited for a few seconds the first time but it rapidly becomes implausible.

There's a bunch of info here

http://www.hoax-slayer.com/mars-earth-close.html

 

[Guest]

spewin

 

[instar]

Large as the full moon pmsl right! shame though, think a similar story last year was officially closest, still not really visible to naked eye, i rem trtying to zoom with vid, while freezing my butt off lol shook to much . thanks anyway Al. :lol:

 

[Sdaji]

Large as the full moon pmsl right! shame though, think a similar story last year was officially closest, still not really visible to naked eye, i rem trtying to zoom with vid, while freezing my butt off lol shook to much . thanks anyway Al.

The link I put up gives the story, inny. It will happen again this year similar to last year and although last year's was the closest it will come for a few zillion or so years, the difference between then and what happens very often isn't noticable, so it was no big deal to anyone other than astronomy nerds (often very cool people ). Mars is often close enough to see with the naked eye, along with other planets, particularly venus. If you don't know what you're looking at (as with me most of the time) they just look like stars.

If you want to see something really awesome, you can go to see the total solar eclipse next year which will pass through northern Africa and Europe. I wanted to go to the last one, but it was in Antarctica and the trip would have had a five figure price tag I made it to the previous one, which was in Ceduna, where I had the best 32 seconds of my life.

 

[craig.a.c]

Seems like every time that mars comes back, it is allways closer and won't be this close again for a long while.

 

[Nephrurus]

in Ceduna, where I had the best 32 seconds of my life

YOU picked up at an ecipse viewing? Now that is unbelievable! LOL!

C'mon, i could'nt let a comment like that go by with saying something!

-H

 

[alexr]

YOU picked up at an ecipse viewing? Now that is unbelievable! LOL

PMSL. (so offence Sdaji). That was very funny. court me off guard and I actually laughed out loud...

 

[Pike01]

Yeah this was put out to coincide with the release of war of the worlds.Just holywood hype to get more people to the movie.

 

[Sdaji]

YOU picked up at an ecipse viewing? Now that is unbelievable! LOL!

Imagine what I could do at a singles' bar.

 

[dobermanmick]

:lol: