Mars won’t be near this August August 11, 2005
I received an e-mail from a co-worker in Manila about Mars coming so near Earth in an encounter that will supposedly culminate by end of August and have the red planet looking as big and as clear as our Moon to the naked eye.
If you have received this, too, be warned that this is a hoax. The great opposition of these two planets happened in 2003 and peak viewing for Mars this year will be by end of October, not this month.
Below is the full text of the letter
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 10 p.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 and friends.
No one alive today will ever see this again.
To read more about this hoax, read here, here, and here.
Leave a Reply