[meteorite-list] Mars

From: Michael L Blood <mlblood_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Thu Apr 22 10:21:10 2004
Message-ID: <BB4D76AA.903D%mlblood_at_cox.net>

Most of you astronomy types probably know this, but it was news to me:

Subject: Red Planet

=A0Never again in your lifetime will the Red Planet be so spectacular!

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. The next time Mars ma=
y
come this close is in
2287.=A0 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.

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. 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. So mark your calendar at the beginning of August to see Mars grow
progressively brighter and brighter throughout the month.

Share with your friends, children and grandchildren. No one alive today wil=
l
ever see this again!

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--
"I stand by all the misstatements that I've made."
   ...George W. Bush to Sam Donaldson, 8/17/93
--
Worth Seeing:
-  Earth at night from satellite:
http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/image/0011/earthlights_dmsp_big.jpg
- Interactive Lady Liberty:
http://doody36.home.attbi.com/liberty.htm
- Earth - variety of choices:
http://www.fourmilab.ch/earthview/vplanet.html
--
Panoramic view of Meteor Crater:
http://www.virtualguidebooks.com/Arizona/GrandCanyonRoute66/MeteorCrater/Me=
t
eorCraterRimL.html
--
Cool Calendar & Clock:
  http://www.yugop.com/ver3/stuff/03/fla.html
--
Michael Blood Meteorites & Didgeridoos for sale at:
http://www.michaelbloodmeteorites.com/

Received on Wed 30 Jul 2003 04:20:43 PM PDT