Mars... closest to the earth in history(recored)

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

I believe this event was in 2003. I remember the August 26-27 date.

when it comes to forwards, it is always best to check snopes:
http://www.snopes.com/science/mars.asp

Tony Crocker":3vm3wymc said:

I believe this event was in 2003. I remember the August 26-27 date.

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Unless this news is really late. My wife told me that same thing last month, not in 2003. I remember because I told her we would be in Oregon at that time.

riverc0il":3vm3wymc said:

when it comes to forwards, it is always best to check snopes:
http://www.snopes.com/science/mars.asp

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Thanks river. :roll: My wife should read FTO to get the straight goods, no bull is right.

I also remember that in 2003, but I just though that this time it was even closer. :roll: I guess you can't always believe everything that on the internet... except here of course. :wink:

I was just fowarding a email my wife sent me last week...yikes i feel like my wife just set me up

jasoncapecod":jh5xaiwn said:

I was just fowarding a email my wife sent me last week...yikes i feel like my wife just set me up

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no worries man. almost everything forwarded by email like that is a hoax or untruth. this one actually was mostly true a few years ago so it is actually impressive that a forwarded spam email like that was true at one point! :lol:

jasoncapecod":wjs1onqr said:

I was just fowarding a email my wife sent me last week...yikes i feel like my wife just set me up

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What are the common denominators here? Wifes and the internet. :roll: :lol:

It was funny yesterday...I get an email anytime a new topic is created, as a means to keep the spammers under control. I got one when this topic was started, and I called over to a colleague and read him the subject. He started laughing and asked if I'd pulled the Snopes reference yet, and I logged in and told him that Riv beat me to it.

You see, that colleague forwarded the same email last week, and my response was a link to the very same Snopes reference. :lol: