Close encounter with Mars

imported
#1

This should be super cool along the JMT. I plan to finish on 8/26, so I should see some good stuff;

"MARK YOUR CALENDARS FOR THIS DATE: AUGUST 27TH

We Will Never See This Again in Our Lifetime

…nor will the people of the next 50-to-1,000 life times!
Mars “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."

For more info click here.

Jeffrey Hunter

#2

This web page explains that the Mars clsoe encounter is an urban legend.

Ken

#3

The article is real.

BBC Friday, 1 August, 2003, 12:58 GMT 13:58.

:nerd

Scoop

#4

Oh crap! I’ve been had! Sorry folks. :bawling

Jeffrey Hunter

#5

BTW, my lawyer sent me that in an email. Think I should bill/sue him for my time and public humiliation? :lol

Jeffrey Hunter

#6

while flying to san fran last year to start the JMT, we read in the back of backpacker that mars would appear as large as the moon. we were all like, “way cool.” but we asked some astronomers up at glacier point the day before we started and they said it was an error, and they had heard that before in years past.

however, i have heard there is some meteor shower that can be viewed in august. can anybody shed some light on that??

jerm

#7

When the moon hits your eye like a big pizza pie, it’s amore . . .

Yeah, backpacker really goofed on that one. We’re all in serious trouble if Mars ever appears that big in the night sky.

Cap’n

#8

The Perseid meteor shower will be peaking around the 11th or 12th of August, I believe. I always have a hard time keeping the exact date straight, because the peak comes after midnight. Anyway, I was really looking forward to watching, then I read that the moon will be close to full around that time, so that will get in the way.

Len

#9

August 11 will be my first day on the JMT. Gives me another reason to sleep under the stars. I hope the mosquitoes cooperate.

Jeffrey Hunter

#10

here is an exerpt from my journal on the jmt last summer:

"there was a blurb in the most recent issue of backpacker magazine stating that on august 27th the planet mars would be as big and as bright as the full moon in the night sky. that is only 11 days from now.

well, last night i looked up into the sky and could clearly see the red planet above. it was nowhere near the size of the moon. i would say that it had better hit a serious growth spurt during the next 11 days…"

needless to say, that thing never got any bigger.

oh well.

grizzly adam