The Red Planet is about to be spectacular!
This is just TOO amazing...at least read it and ponder....
I wonder how many people on the planet will actually take a moment and go outside and check this out...
And if they do, I wonder if it is one of the few things we could say about oursevlves (via history) about 'these days', with all the fear and terror hanging over us....if we all took a moment to look up at the sky wonder gape in awe at the Mighty Red Giant bearing down on us...would it be one of the rare fly specks of moments in history when we forgot ourselves and stared in wonder at something totally out of our control?
Should we rent a telelscope and throw a part at Griffith Park or the beach or the desert ?...if any one wants to let me know I'm game...
Fw: MARS SPECTACULAR
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 5,000years, 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 at10p.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.
NO ONE ALIVE TODAYWILL EVER SEE THIS AGAIN
I wonder how many people on the planet will actually take a moment and go outside and check this out...
And if they do, I wonder if it is one of the few things we could say about oursevlves (via history) about 'these days', with all the fear and terror hanging over us....if we all took a moment to look up at the sky wonder gape in awe at the Mighty Red Giant bearing down on us...would it be one of the rare fly specks of moments in history when we forgot ourselves and stared in wonder at something totally out of our control?
Should we rent a telelscope and throw a part at Griffith Park or the beach or the desert ?...if any one wants to let me know I'm game...
Fw: MARS SPECTACULAR
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 5,000years, 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 at10p.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.
NO ONE ALIVE TODAYWILL EVER SEE THIS AGAIN