I received this photo and the following message from a friend today:
"Something to look forward to this summer.
Mars - 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 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.
Share this with your children and grandchildren."
NOTE: Please read the comment for this post to see how gullible some of us can be. I will keep this blog post up to remind myself and everyone who reads it that "you can't believe everything you read."
Dear Barbara,
ReplyDeleteWhile this information was valid back in 2003, it is totally inaccurate for 2008. The email message is a hoax!
This message seems set to keep resurfacing every year and duping a whole new set of recipients into gazing rather fruitlessly at the night sky. But don't despair! Close encounters with Mars are not such uncommon events. The claim that "NO ONE ALIVE TODAY WILL EVER SEE THIS AGAIN!" is misleading. It is true that the next time Mars will be as close to Earth as it was in 2003 will be on August 28, 2287. In the mean time however, there will be plenty of other close approaches, so our children and our children's children are not likely to miss out altogether.
Sources: http://www.hoax-slayer.com/mars-earth-close.html AND http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2005/07jul_marshoax.htm
Kind Regards
Tia Mysoa
Thank you Tia for the heads up.
ReplyDelete