Star17, is this true?

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


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It's an e-mail I got. If it is, that's pretty neat and I'd like to know about it, considering August 27th is my 25th birthday.

 

Umm...wasn't that last year?

 

I dunno, sometimes stuff gets passed around and people miss it. I remember mars being close enough to look like a big star for a while, but not the size of a full moon.

 

The only way Mars is ever going to look the size of a full moon is through a telescope.

 

I believe it is true, my sister sent me the email. The one I got said it would appear as big as the moon when viewed with the 75 power magnification which seems a bit of a stretch, being that that is just regular binoculars. If it is not true , then all our email addresses just became available to the spam market again. I will wait for Star to confirm the story.

 

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

 

Mars, in August this year will be around 10 arcseconds in diameter. A full moon is about 180 times as big.

Just seen your link kadavil. I was a year out.

 

Crap! I was looking forward to seeing that.

 

See, I knew I remembered it sitting up there not long ago, but never THAT close.

Deep Impact looks very interresting though.

 

this happened last year.. this year though you can see venus, mercury and saturn with the nakes eye after sunset. I've been watching them the last few days.
awesome

 

well, atleast it's not North America.. I'm busy next thursday

 

I've gotten this e-mail twice this week. My wife's uncle and a friend forward anything and everything.

 

I didn't care for that movie..

 

So that's where that ten foot glop of liquid metal in my back yard came from. I thought the neighbor had tried metal sculpture, and screwed it all up, then tossed the mess into my yard.

Cool, Maybe I'll make thermometers.

 

I agree. If it works then maybe that'll give the powers that be some data on how to destroy or nudge aside an object that is gonna hit the planet . . . and without relying on Bruce Willis to nuke it for us! lol

 

Oh, I HATE when that happens! Stupid planets . . . .

 

Seriously, they should get their acts together. Rotten orbits. Besides, of all the places to slam into? rotten choice. They make interresting children down that way.

 

Yep, the Mars proximity thing was last year, if memory serves me correctly. I remember getting some prety good tele-photos of it, as well as some other planets, which so happened to be in exceptional veiw for a while.

Mercury,heh? What the heck! We don't need two American continents, anyway. We have a 'spare'.

 

Oh boy! Now I wont have to pay as much for my Cuban cigars! Yippie!!! I'm running low on J.F.K.'s private stash.

Even though that's the east coast, and I'm on the west coast. I guess 3,000 miles aint as bad as the other side of the Earth to go for cigars!

Kudos to the guys at N.A.S.A. (that's the Nautical Alteration of South America, by the way. )

I'll say hello to Unca Fidel for ya!...

 

Yeah, or Not Another Silly Arse....heh!, heh!

 

I'm pretty busy in Koala country. It's just turned the witching hour here, and I've just finnished work.

I trust you are both getting some surf and sunshine in the Florida summer. Even my Canadian friends are moaning of 90 deg heat. I thought I was the only one that got punnished with summers like that.

 

Just the opposite here, I'm afraid. Non-sop rain and wind for the last six weeks. The wettest June in eighty years, and the worst of winter to come!

"I love a sunburnt country"...BAH!

Well I hope your air-conditioning is doing its job this time, Chris.

 

Yeah, you just need to stock up on the 'Raid' and such, I guess.

My last experience of Florida (looong ago) was Fire Ants, mosquitos and Blackflies, LoL! (Yep, it was summer).

I've got three refrigerative units, and two evaporative 'swamp coolers, and a few fans. I need the all in the summer.

Mind you, the refrigerative ones are on reverse cycle, a.t.m. - 'cause it's three deg. Celsius and c-c-cold! Had to wade through the parking lot in eighteen inches of water. I’ll bring me flippers next time.