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.

By August 27, Mars will look as large as the full moon to the naked eye. 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.

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.

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.

It appears to be an email hoax ..

http://www.space.com/scienceastronom...mars_hoax.html

I've been had!
;)

You're not the only one :(

I was getting all excited as well.

You're not the only one :(

I was getting all excited as well. [/b][/quote]
you have been had more than me...at least Mars haven't given me a hard on
;)

I was buying it up to this point:

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

I knew this wasn't true. It was two years ago in August that Mars came as close to earth as it's going to in the next few hundred years.

But Serge, if you're a sky-watcher like I am, here are a couple of sites I check out often:

Northern Lights Predictor
http://www.sec.noaa.gov/pmap/pmapN.html

Eclipse Chasers
http://www.eclipse-chasers.com/

Sky Chasers (nice pics here)
http://www.skychasers.net/

You are good my man!!! :okthumb:

you have been had more than me...at least Mars haven't given me a hard on
;) [/b][/quote]
What can I say, space interests me a lot :)

What? No link to WineTalk?

Damn... that would have been cool. :(