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
>
The Red Planet is about to be spectacular!
by z 10 Replies latest social current
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z
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BrendaCloutier
I got that bogus email, also.
Truth is this event happened in 2003.
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kls
What you talkin bout Brenda
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BrendaCloutier
Sorry KLS, it's history. And it was spectacular!
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daystar
Is this a current event? Or is it just a regurgitation of what happened in 2003?
http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/mars_orbit_030121-1.html
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kls
Sorry KLS, it's history. And it was spectacular!
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Leolaia
Picture of Mars in August 2003, taken with my digital camera on maximum zoom. Second photo is at normal focal length and in Photoshop I placed the zoomed-out Mars in the position of Mars in the wide-angle photo.
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JH
That picture is wonderful Leolaia
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Elsewhere
Mars gets very bright in the sky about every two years. The last time this happened it was 2003.... 2003 + 2 = 2005.
This pattern can be demonstrated using this JAVA applet that shows both orbits in motion:
http://illuminations.nctm.org/tools/tool_detail.aspx?id=119 -
z
Ops sry I just get this email so I thought I will share it……… look like old news
