It's supposed to move so close to earth that we will beable to see it without a telescope. I think it was Mars. Is this right?
2006-09-09 17:14:30 · 19 answers · asked by Anonymous in Science & Mathematics ➔ Astronomy & Space
No. That was an internet joke. I got the same spam email.
2006-09-09 17:16:26 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 0⤋
You can see Mars without a telescope all the time. The thing is, both Mars and Earth rotate around the Sun, but at different rates, so the orbits are not in sync. Mars and Earth are close together in their orbits vis-a-vi the sun occasionally, but the rest of the time they are either moving away from each other or moving toward each other (as the case may be), while rotating around the sun of course. Recently the two planets were the closest together they had been in a long time or will be again any time soon. And Mars looked noticeably brighter and larger. But they're now moving apart again, so it doesn't appear so bright and large now. So you heard right. You can still see Mars with the naked eye, but you'd see more detail with a telescope. A few years ago I looked at Saturn through a telescope, it was amazing. I could see the round globe and the rings. If there is an amateur astronomy group in your area, I recommend that you go to one of their events and look through their telescopes!
2006-09-10 00:42:30 · answer #2 · answered by ronw 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Although you can see it with the naked eye at times, you don't see much as it is so small, but the idea of seeing a big Mars without a telescope...
Claim: The planet Mars will make a once-in-our-lifetimes, remarkably close approach to Earth on 27 August 2006.
Status: False.
Examples of this hoax have been collected on the Internet since 2003.
See: http://www.snopes.com/science/mars.asp
NOTE: for such questions, the best place to check is the Internet hoax busting folks at snopes.com .
2006-09-10 00:28:53 · answer #3 · answered by Seikilos 6 · 1⤊ 0⤋
>>THREE YEARS AGO<< Mars came within 34,646,418 miles of Earth on August 28, 2003, the closest it's been in the last 50,000 years. Regardless of what you've been told, it was NOT as large as the full moon.
http://www.space.com/spacewatch/mars_preview_021108.html
http://www.windows.ucar.edu/tour/link=/mars/mars_orbit.html
You don't need a telescope to view Mars. On December 24 at around 2:00 am it will be just above the eastern horizon. Take a look!
2006-09-10 01:26:25 · answer #4 · answered by Chug-a-Lug 7 · 2⤊ 0⤋
Sure! You can sometimes see Mars as a yellowish-orange disk at times. I remember being at Hampton Beach in New Hampshire in 1988 - Mars was brilliant right overhead-! Recently - as recent as last year - Mars made another close approach. I could see it easily, although there are bright city lights here in Providence, Rhode Island. If you catch it at the right time, no problem in seeing it. At other times, you really do need a telescope-!
2006-09-10 00:24:54 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Mars is set till next April .
It's a hoax..
I heard about the Mars hoax and the answer is no . I'll tell you the real scoop on it . In 2003 it was in fact true ! Mars was the closest it's ever been on August 27 2003 .
The next year a New York Observatory reprinted the story again on the August 27th date for a joke . It was hown in the states on the local news and they said " The latest Mars craze is going on again this year , It was said to be started again by a new york observatory as a joke and well it's been listed as spam. And it currently is circulating the internet as a forward . We spoke to our local astronomers to get the story and they showed us where Mars is . Under the horizon till next year. t's completely not true this year , It did actually happen last in 2003 as we all know but this time it's a joke. an April fools joke . No madness intended . "
So it's been floating around for 2 years . Actually there is alot of it going around, crazy emails floating areound of it , observatory phones ringing off the hook .
It has turned into one big hoax . For further reading put in Mars Hoax into google & google news .
Next year the Mars Hoax will float again I bet !
If your interested, you can see more of Mars hoax in the news ..
http://news.google.com/news?hl=en&ned=us&q=mars+hoax&btnG=Search+News
2006-09-10 00:23:31 · answer #6 · answered by spaceprt 5 · 2⤊ 0⤋
Check this out on snopes.com. This has been going through the rounds on the internet for years.
You can see Mars without a telescope but you need to know what you are looking at to distinguish it from other stars.
The urban legend that is circulating is that Mars will look bigger than the moon but it's false.
2006-09-10 00:23:35 · answer #7 · answered by youngliver2000 3 · 2⤊ 0⤋
Mars did indeed move closer to the Earth than it has in many years. But regardless, Mars can be seen in the evening skies without the use of a telescope of any kind.
2006-09-10 00:55:11 · answer #8 · answered by LARRY M 3 · 0⤊ 2⤋
No, it was never true for anytime. Sorry to all of you who said yes. Mars does appear closer at the times it matches the earth's orbit but never comes close enough to see more than a tiny redish starlike dot with the naked eye.
2006-09-10 01:01:27 · answer #9 · answered by macearth2000 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Mars is always visible to the naked eye, assuming it's not hidden by the glare of the Sun like it is right now. It won't be easily visible until January. It looks like a bright red/orange star in the sky, which is why many ancient cultures (not just the greeks and romans) named it after their god of war.
2006-09-10 00:23:42 · answer #10 · answered by kris 6 · 3⤊ 0⤋
You can see it without a telescope anyway. Unless it's cloudy, of course.
2006-09-10 00:20:03 · answer #11 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 0⤋