mars.....

Just a note .....

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

go now smoke a fattie and enjoy our earth...!!!!

wtf is not august already? I'm confused... why can't I see it? :(

http://www.hoax-slayer.com/mars-earth-close.html

Do'oh! not true... Not this year anyway. haha saw it 2 years ago and wasn't that spactacular, really

i was like damn i can't see shit :(

so sad - it was right before my birthday, i was all excited and shit.

hum so actually is it this year or wtf? is naluman just too much stoned? im confused. coz i remember seeing mars in the sky few years ago. and yes, it wasnt that spectacular

http://www.rednova.com/news/space/15...ter_with_mars/
Earth and Mars will have a breathtaking close encounter in October 2005


By the time you finish reading this sentence, you'll be 25 miles closer to the planet Mars.

Earth is racing toward Mars at a speed of 23,500 mph, which means the red planet is getting bigger and brighter by the minute. In October, when the two planets are closest together, Mars will outshine everything in the night sky except Venus and the Moon. (You're another 50 miles closer: keep reading!)

It's only May, now, but Mars is already eye-catching. You can see it early in the morning, rising before the sun in the eastern sky, shining almost twice as bright as a 1st-magnitude star. A sky map, below, shows where to find Mars on Tuesday morning, May 31st, when it appears beautifully close to the Moon.

Why are we rushing toward Mars? It's simple orbital mechanics. Think of Earth and Mars as two runners on a circular race track, with lanes corresponding to planetary orbits. Earth, running fast on the inside lane, circles the course in 12 months. Mars, plodding along an outside lane, takes twice as long to go around. Every two years, approximately, Earth catches Mars from behind and laps it.

That's where we are now, approaching Mars from behind. Relative speed: 23,500 mph.
-------------------
we are all flying on a big blue ball of dirt and water and rocks

hey naluman
surf time aint it
:)

yeah, i was gonna say too i thought this happened a couple years ago...but still mars is an awesome sight right now (and always for that matter), coming up just after midnight out here and well worth having the 10" meade waiting! sky charts are available at sky&telescope and astronomy dot coms too...excellent reference for wherever you sit on this planet!

here's the best sky chart i've found so far...lots of toys and good for anyplace, anywhere in local or whatever time you want (good for seeing what's coming up too)

http://www.fourmilab.to/yoursky/

cool link dell, makes me want to get my astroscan out of storage. haha