Re: off topic: Viewing MARS

["Richard Henderson" Richard.Henderson@xxxxxxxx]

This item is way off topic, but I believe that a number of members of this list will be interested in the topic. We (everyone on Earth) are being offered a truly "Once in a lifetime" experience by the alignment of our planet with Mars for the next few nights. Go out after dark, look toward the heavens, and enjoy the show.

>Subject: Fw: Planet Mars viewing
>Date: Tue, 26 Aug 2003 08:05:35 -0400
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>MARK AUGUST 27th ON YOUR CALENDAR
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>MARS WILL APPEAR AS BIG AS THE MOON!
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>FIRST TIME IN AT LEAST 5,000 YEARS!
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>Never again in your lifetime will the Red Planet be so spectacular!
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>This month and next, Earth is catching up with Mars, an encounter that will culminate in the closest approach between the two planets in recorded history.
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>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.
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>On August 27, Mars will come within 34,649,589 miles 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.
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>At the beginning of August, Mars will rise in the east at 10 p.m. and reach its azimuth at about 3 a.m. But 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 12:30 a.m. That's pretty convenient when it comes to seeing something that no human has seen in recorded history.
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>So mark your calendar at the beginning of August to see Mars grow progressively brighter and brighter throughout the month.
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>Share with your friends, children and grandchildren. No one alive today will ever see this again!