quote:

The Red Planet (MARS) 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. By August 27, 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 10p.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.

another reason to be at the beach??

Last edited by LKD on Aug-26-2005 at 15:15

cool someone should play Avatar - the red plantet for this.

quote:

Originally posted by Time2Burn cool someone should play Avatar - the red plantet for this.

i bet someone will

Freakin' awesome! Gonna be camping for this! Wikkid! Spanks, Liam!

___________________
"WEMF is...." and I can't remember the rest because I didn't write it down.
- Blackness at WEMF 2007

I think that was last year this happened!!!

___________________
The Matrix is everywhere, it is all around us, even now in this very room. You can see it when you look out your window, or you turn on your television. You can feel it when you go to work, when you go to church, when you pay your taxes. It is the world that has been pulled over your eyes to blind you from the truth.

here is the event you are refering to
HERE

here is what's happening now
here

___________________
Rocco's myspace here

I thought you were going to say it was your birthday.

___________________
You told me to look much farther. You told me to walk much more. You told me that music matters.

quote:

Professor dispels Mars rumor Believers ‘crushed’ by truth By Sophia Maines (Contact) Friday, August 26, 2005 advertisement It’s been the buzz of the Internet: Mars will come so close to earth it will look as large as the moon to the naked eye on Saturday. Whoa. Not so fast, skygazer. “It’s a hoax,” said Bruce Twarog, a Kansas University professor of physics and astronomy. Twarog has been the bearer of bad news to excited sky observers in recent weeks as the bogus event neared. Twarog shrugs. A lot of people just don’t have a good grasp of what’s going on in the sky, he said. And some just can’t help but be wooed by the prospect of seeing a spectacle of a lifetime. “I was crushed,” said Roger Martin, publications and features editor for the KU Center for Research, who had to hear the disappointing news from Twarog. “I was really crushed. ... I guess there’s a child part in everyone that wants to believe in miracles.” There appears to be no one to blame. “No one really knows the source of this kind of urban myth,” said Gary Webber, a Lawrence amateur astronomer. “Someone, somewhere wanted to aggrandize themselves so they put this false notice on the Internet.” Kansas University professor of physics and astronomy Bruce Twarog says an Internet story claiming Mars will be so close to the Earth on Saturday that it will appear as large as the moon is a hoax. Twarog explained that October and November would be better months to keep an eye out for the red planet. Photo by Nick Krug Kansas University professor of physics and astronomy Bruce Twarog says an Internet story claiming Mars will be so close to the Earth on Saturday that it will appear as large as the moon is a hoax. Twarog explained that October and November would be better months to keep an eye out for the red planet. Some of the phony news mirrors an event that happened on the same date two years ago. On Aug. 27, 2003, Mars moved the closest distance ever recorded: 34.6 million miles. For that event, fans flocked to telescopes for a glimpse of the fourth planet from the sun. Telescopes were set up at Lawrence High and Clinton Lake for public viewing. Dozens of people came out to view Mars from those two sites, said Webber, who participated in that astronomical event. But that is not the case this year. Mars will be close again — but the big day isn’t Saturday and, regardless, it won’t be as close as it was in 2003. October and November will be key months to check out Mars. Oct. 31 will be the best day to get another good look. It’s not enough to draw the same awe that it did in 2003, Twarog said. In a way, all this phony business has been good, Twarog said. In 2003, when it was real, astronomers had to position telescopes and work to prepare for the big event. This time, there seems to be a big event, and they don’t have to do any work, Twarog said. Twarog tells skygazers to keep an eye on the skies in October and November, but he doubts that event will attract as much attention. Would-be watchers are too busy kicking themselves. But, hey, there are worse things than getting excited about space. “I didn’t buy the Brooklyn Bridge,” Martin said. “I didn’t buy land in Florida that doesn’t exist. ... I didn’t do a lot of things.” So this hoax appears to have been seemingly harmless. “No money was lost,” Martin said. “Who cares if face is lost?”

http://www2.ljworld.com/news/2005/a...mor/?city_local
http://abc.net.au/science/news/spac...ish_1446143.htm

Closest approach to Mars is actually sometime in October.

The Nasa link was for Aug 27, 2003 .. so I guess someone decided to just change the last digit of the date.

___________________
[alk]

Ah, that was awesome back in '03... I was at the top of a mountain just outside of Riverside, California, with a few people and a telescope.

i remember sitting outside my highschool at midnight lookin at it...but it wasnt that big...

but bahhhh

fuckin hoax....