Mars Encounter

[coquina]

This email is going around, but I haven't heard about it anywhere else. Is it 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.

[Spyman]

Mars Hoax Circulates the Internet: http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/050708_mars_hoax.html

 

Only the first sentence is true. The Red Planet is about to be spectacular. The rest is a hoax.

[coquina]

It sounded screwy, glad to have confirmation. I sent your link to the person who sent me the email and asked her to send it back up the line.

[ydoaPs]

it WAS true a good while ago.