[extropy-chat] [ASTRO/BS?] Mars as big as the moon?

The Avantguardian avantguardian2020 at yahoo.com
Wed Jun 8 23:08:25 UTC 2005


Some well meaning friend forwarded this to me.

I am thinking this HAS to be nonsense, but I am not an
astronomer. Amara? Anyone?

-----Original Message-----
From: Cobb, LynJason
[mailto:LynJason.cobb at cbnorcal.com]
Sent: Wednesday, June 08, 2005 12:38 PM
To: ****Menlo Park -El Camino
Subject: Mars Spectacular!!

Subject: MARS SPECTACULAR!

 Now this looks like it might be fun to catch a look
at?!


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

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 children and grandchildren. NO ONE ALIVE TODAY
WILL EVER SEE THIS
AGAIN

 


The Avantguardian 
is 
Stuart LaForge
alt email: stuart"AT"ucla.edu

"The surest sign of intelligent life in the universe is that they haven't attempted to contact us." 
-Bill Watterson

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