I got this email a couple of days ago, and it sounds so interesting, is it for real??

Question

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.

NO ONE ALIVE TODAY WILL EVER SEE THIS AGAIN

Answer 1

Sounds cool, is their a site to get more info?

Answer 2

It happened in August 2003, and not this year. This email has been circulating for 3 years!

If you missed that look at Mars, don't despair. Every 26 months, Mars is at opposition (opposite the Sun in the sky and relatively close to the Earth). If you have access to a telescope, here are some other planets that will be at opposition in the near future. Some of these will be visible to the naked eye.

August 11, 2006 - Neptune at opposition
September 5, 2006 - Uranus at opposition
February 10, 2007 - Saturn at opposition
June 5, 2007 - Jupiter at opposition

To find out about upcoming sky "events," check out:

http://www.astronomy.com/asy/default.aspx
http://www.earthsky.com/

Answer 3

This is a hangover from 2003. That is one trouble with Google and other engines, is you bring up old stuff and if someone is not looking at the date, they think the reference to August is August this year.

Other than that it looks fairly genuine. It is obviously just an old message found on Google.

One mistake though is where it says "next to the moon, it will be the brightest thing in the night sky". Venus is several times brighter at mag -4.2, but then maybe the reference is to what is just in the night sky at that time.

Also, some other people who have quoted this, have talked about it being "next" to the moon. Well, it is obvious now they have read it wrongly - the "next" refers to it being "next to it in brightness".

Also, others have read it wrongly and said it will look as big as the moon, whereas the piece specifically says under 75x magnification, which is something most people won't have.

And that's nothing magic. Under 75x mag, both Venus and Jupiter appear several times bigger than the moon, and Venus even shows phases like the moon does.

Jeez, there's a lot of misinformation comes though on the internet.

Answer 4

i dont really understand how this all works and whether it is different in the southern hemisphere, but we were told this exact thing about a year ago and we all stood out on the balcony and looked up at this great huge bright ball in the sky that we were told was Mars, it was amazing, however your question has been asked a few times today and i dont whether we were lied to a year ago when we were told it was the closest we would ever see Mars or whether the turning of the earth means it took a year for the northern hemisphere to see it....either way the big ball in the sky was quite impressive.

Answer 5

Good grief, not again.

No, it's not true. The encounter was in August of 2003.

Answer 6

It may be true, because i heard a few years ago that this thing happens. i think the information in this email is exaggerated but some parts of it may be true.

Answer 7

I hate idiots who deface all that is good in science to send out those completely FALSE emails! It has no truth to it whatsoever. Those emails circulate all year, every year.

Answer 8

False email. See snopes.com.

Answer 9

Not only incorrect, but spamilicious.

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