Mars

[Hoverbug]

Folks, make sure you find some clear skies for this event.

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

[Hoverbug]

Folks, make sure you find some clear skies for this event.

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

[DriVer]

Thanks for posting this, I'll look forward to it.

[Cruzer]

Sounds cool but I tried to get reservations at the Mars KOA and they were all booked.

[FatDog]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content"> Sounds cool but I tried to get reservations at the Mars KOA and they were all booked. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Its boondocking there only i thought,
and thanks for the heads up on this event, we will have our telescope ready.
Mike

[troth]

Hoverbug, are you sure this didn't already occur back in 2003?
http://www.space.com/spacewatch/where_is_mars.html

[Hoverbug]

You know Troth, I was asked that by someone else. Frankly I don't know; the link was sent to me by a good friend in Florida who is a retired educator. In fact he is a doctor of education and is not prone to practical jokes. So I guess we'll have to wait until August to find out

[Ken Lenger]

I saw a picture a while back that showed a WalMart on Mars. FREE CAMPING !!!!

[Hoverbug]

Recon how long it would take to get there? Would we need any sway control in space? I don't think there are any trees. Hovergirl and I don't like to camp where there are no trees. But I bet that blue vested greeter is waiting for us.

[Joe-K]

I just ventured to Mars last weekend to fuel up the motorhome. Found the price of Diesel was $ 2.35.
Mars, Pennsylvania is about 25 miles North of Pittsburgh if anyone wants to visit.

[Lady Nyrtle]

My brother is very interested in astronomy. I forwarded the post to him and asked him about its veracity. He said that Mars will indeed appear larger in late summer of 2005 but he didn't rave about it - said it was also large two summers ago, but a disappointment to him at that time. I'm going to look for it, for sure.

[Alan_Hepburn]

According to the NASA websitethis phenomenon occurs every two years, as we overtake Mars in the race around the sun, essentially lapping Mars.

[Hoverbug]

Thanks Alan for the NASA link, very interesting. You also have a great family web site. Your 5th wheel hitch is neat. I'd not seen one before. Happy Trails!!

[Two Bit]

This was on the NASA websight.....
http://science.nasa.gov/default.htm

Beware the Mars Hoax


7.07.2005

Earth and Mars are converging for a close encounter--but not as close as some people think.

July 7, 2005: There's a rumor going around. You might have heard it at a 4th of July BBQ or family get-together. More likely you've read it on the Internet. It goes like this:

"The Red Planet is about to be spectacular."

"Earth is catching up with Mars [for] the closest approach between the two planets in recorded history."

"On August 27th ... Mars will look as large as the full moon."

And finally, "NO ONE ALIVE TODAY WILL EVER SEE THIS AGAIN."

Those are snippets from a widely-circulated email. Only the first sentence is true. The Red Planet is about to be spectacular. The rest is a hoax.

Here are the facts: Earth and Mars are converging for a close encounter this year on October 30th at 0319 Universal Time. Distance: 69 million kilometers. To the unaided eye, Mars will look like a bright red star, a pinprick of light, certainly not as wide as the full Moon.

Disappointed? Don't be. If Mars did come close enough to rival the Moon, its gravity would alter Earth's orbit and raise terrible tides.

Sixty-nine million km is good. At that distance, Mars shines brighter than anything else in the sky except the Sun, the Moon and Venus. The visual magnitude of Mars on Oct. 30, 2005, will be -2.3. Even inattentive sky watchers will notice it, rising at sundown and soaring overhead at midnight.

You might remember another encounter with Mars, about two years ago, on August 27, 2003. That was the closest in recorded history, by a whisker, and millions of people watched as the distance between Mars and Earth shrunk to 56 million km. This October's encounter, at 69 million km, is similar. To casual observers, Mars will seem about as bright and beautiful in 2005 as it was in 2003.

Although closest approach is still months away, Mars is already conspicuous in the early morning. Before the sun comes up, it's the brightest object in the eastern sky, really eye-catching. If you have a telescope, even a small one, point it at Mars. You can see the bright icy South Polar Cap and strange dark markings on the planet's surface.

One day people will walk among those dark markings, exploring and prospecting, possibly mining ice from the polar caps to supply their settlements. It's a key goal of NASA's Vision for Space Exploration: to return to the Moon, to visit Mars and to go beyond.

Every day the view improves. Mars is coming--and that's no hoax.