Mars in August!

[firestar]

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.

NO ONE ALIVE TODAY WILL EVER SEE THIS AGAIN

[mapleleaf4ever]

Excellent!

Going to have to head to the Country, eat a Peach... errr go Stargazing...

[MissMarz]

fuck yeah! mars rules!

[miss.myra]

Is there a link to a reliable source for this (nasa, etc)? Looks cool!

[cubed]

^^totally looks like a hot vacation spot.

[firestar]

Originally Posted by miss.myra

Is there a link to a reliable source for this (nasa, etc)? Looks cool!

What do you think I would make this up?!

I'll have a look for some sources :D

[mapleleaf4ever]

Turns out this is false.

http://www.earthsky.org/skywatching/...?date=20060719

But, although it contains a grain of truth, this email is a hoax.
Mars will NOT be particularly close to Earth in August 2006.
The email is a rehash from 2003. Though based in a true event from that year, it was wildly exaggerated the first time it circulated.

[Revolver]

Originally Posted by miss.myra

Is there a link to a reliable source for this (nasa, etc)? Looks cool!

lol.....

anyways, didnt this already happen back in summer 03?????????????

[firestar]

Originally Posted by firestar

What do you think I would make this up?!

I'll have a look for some sources :D

http://www.space.com/scienceastronom..._030121-1.html

:)

[miss.myra]

Originally Posted by Revolver

lol.....

Sorry, I don't get why that was funny.

[miss.myra]

Originally Posted by firestar

What do you think I would make this up?!

I'll have a look for some sources :D

I don't think you're making it up, I wanted to read up more on it.

[mapleleaf4ever]

Originally Posted by firestar

http://www.space.com/scienceastronom..._030121-1.html

A three year old source.

Senior Science Writer
posted: 07:00 am ET
21 January 2003

http://www.snopes.com/science/mars.asp

Although Mars' proximity to Earth in August 2003 (referred to as a perihelic opposition) was a rare occurrence, the red planet comes almost as near to us every 15 to 17 years. To the unaided observer, Mars' appearance in August 2003 wasn't significantly larger or brighter than it is during those much more common intervals of closeness.

[stephen_c]

Originally Posted by MissMarz

fuck yeah! mars rules!

pfff, mars is overrated.

mercury, now that's hawt.

[b0ld]

uhhhh.... biggest hoax ever..... mars is actually on the other side of our solar system as we speak.... so its further away from us...... HOWEVER that being said currently there is an event that we may see in the sky soon. There is a star about 150 light years away that is on the verge of death.... In other words there is gonna be a super nova that is going to occur.... Amatuer astronomers have been monitoring it...... and if it does explode they say that it will be the brightest object in the sky at night time and can quite possibly be seen during the day....

[mapleleaf4ever]

^ Supernovas are cool... If I remember right there was one quite a few Years back.

[b0ld]

Originally Posted by mapleleaf4ever

^ Supernovas are cool... If I remember right there was one quite a few Years back.

realistically supernova's happen all the time within the galaxy its just that this supernova is happening close to earth.... It doesn't affect us at all..... thats unless a powerful x ray beam comes in our directions and hits earth then earth would be destroyed. However the chances of that from happening is unlikely.


What is rather interesting about this supernova event is the intensity of power and radiation it gives off before the star explodes. If you were to calculate the distance between earth and our sun it actually take 4 minutes for light from our sun to reach earth. But this supernova that will occur its pretty much going to be real time information as it happens. A supernova is the second most powerful event that happens in the universe. First of course being black holes where not even light can escape....

Now you may wonder what will happen when our sun die's.... well... when our sun ends up doing a supernova earth would of been already destroyed hundreds if not thousands of years. The star will end up expanding and go beyond earths orbit so earth would be incinerated. Then what happens is that the star will collapse and explode.... pretty brutal eh?

if you wondering how I know this... I am an amatuer astronomer... fun stuff...lots of reading.

[Leviathan]

I'm no astronomer but if your viewing this super nova on Earth and the star is 150 light years away does that not mean the events your viewing right now actually happened 150 years ago? So its like real time -150 years? :)

What is rather interesting about this supernova event is the intensity of power and radiation it gives off before the star explodes. If you were to calculate the distance between earth and our sun it actually take 4 minutes for light from our sun to reach earth. But this supernova that will occur its pretty much going to be real time information as it happens. A supernova is the second most powerful event that happens in the universe. First of course being black holes where not even light can escape....

[b0ld]

Originally Posted by Leviathan

I'm no astronomer but if your viewing this super nova on Earth and the star is 150 light years away does that not mean the events your viewing right now actually happened 150 years ago? So its like real time -150 years? :)

no no no... because of the xray effect (not a direct hit) and the intensity of the explosion somehow the light travels faster... When it comes down to hundreds of thousands of light years... different story... Maybe its less then a 150 light years but based on the scientific calculations with nasa and other astronomy groups around the world they are saying that it will be next to real time information.... The cosmo's are weird....

[MissMarz]

awww man, and i told a whole bunch of people abouty this phenomenon, now i'm going to look like a goof, way to go!:P

[G3N3R4L]

Originally Posted by b0ld

no no no... because of the xray effect (not a direct hit) and the intensity of the explosion somehow the light travels faster... When it comes down to hundreds of thousands of light years... different story... Maybe its less then a 150 light years but based on the scientific calculations with nasa and other astronomy groups around the world they are saying that it will be next to real time information.... The cosmo's are weird....

it makes the light travel faster?? doesnt that alone debunk the whole... light being a constant speed?

e=mc2..

im not very familiar with the whole concept myself .. but this still seems to not fit somehow.

[mapleleaf4ever]

Originally Posted by b0ld

if you wondering how I know this... I am an amatuer astronomer... fun stuff...lots of reading.

I know 'bout this as well... I'm just saying; wasn't there another visible one quite a few years back?

I did an Aerospace Engineering Course when I was in Cadets. lol I'm an official Space Cadet. :p

[elliot]

Originally Posted by firestar

Mars will look as large as the full moon to the naked eye .

pretty obvious its fake at that point. anything looking as big as the moon is very close indeed, or extremely large. the sun, the moon, or another object thats coming directly our way are the only things that could fit into these categories.

[bungoshlung]

Originally Posted by stephen_c

pfff, mars is overrated.

mercury, now that's hawt.

sailor jupitor's always been my favourite.

[wikid]

they said the same thing last august.