2006-08-18 18:50:12 · 6 answers · asked by rivika b 2 in Entertainment & Music ➔ Other - Entertainment
Earth and Mars are rather like two runners going around a racetrack in lanes at different speeds. Mars travels around the Sun about one and a half times farther away than Earth on average and takes 687 days to make a circuit compared with Earth's 365 days. Roughly every 26 months, Earth overtakes Mars on the inside. When this happens, there's a close encounter between Earth and Mars and the two planets line up in space with the Sun. This orbital rendezvous is called an OPPOSITION of Mars, because the Sun and Mars are on opposite sides of Earth.
If the orbits of Earth and Mars were circles, Mars would be the same distance from Earth at every opposition. But the orbits are actually ellipses (oval-shaped), with the Sun offset from the centre. Mars, more so than Earth, follows a very non-circular orbit, so its distance from the Sun varies by 26.5 million miles (42.4 million km). This means that the distance between Earth and Mars at an opposition can be anything between about 35 million miles (56 million km) and 63 million miles (100 million km).
Because Mars's orbit is so elliptical, the time when Mars and Earth are closest and the actual opposition -- when Sun, Earth and Mars are in a direct line -- do not quite coincide. This year's opposition is on 28 August, a day later than closest approach.
Every 15 - 17 years, there is an opposition of Mars when the Red Planet is not far from its closest point to the Sun -- its 'perihelion'.
2006-08-18 19:51:38 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
No, that is a scam that has gone around through the internet for a couple of years now. It was actually closest in 2003. Why they keep circulating that bogus report is beyond me. You can look it up under a web search and you'll find proof that it is bogus.
2006-08-18 18:56:05 · answer #2 · answered by sweetpea 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
When that happens I'll put the Dark Side Of The Moon (Floyd) CD and everything will be just great.
2006-08-18 19:05:10 · answer #3 · answered by Dream 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I doubt it quite seriously. Mars is roughly 140 million miles away and the moon (about the same size) is 220 THOUSAND miles away.
2006-08-18 18:56:02 · answer #4 · answered by Don M 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Awesome.I hope to see it!
2006-08-18 18:55:33 · answer #5 · answered by moebiusfox 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
apparently not
2006-08-18 19:20:55 · answer #6 · answered by the last fartbender 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋