MARS? Science Buffs, Astronomers, When is the planet closest to the earth?

Question

I've gotten an eMail from several folks saying Mars will be closest to the earth on August 27th ... but I'm thinking they'r e a little late as this happened in 2003.

Answer 1

The short answer is "within a few days of when it is at opposition, once every 26 months". "At opposition" means when the Sun and Mars are 180 degrees apart in the sky, when viewed from earth. As contrasted with "in conjunction" when Mars and the Sun are in the same position as one another, as viewed from earth, i.e. Mars is invisible in the Sun's glare and is hidden on the far side of the Sun from us and at its farthest distance from us.

Opposition has the effect that Mars is then viewable all night long. rising when the Sun sets and setting when the Sun rises.

You are of course correct that Mars was at its closest for nearly 60,000 years on 27 August 2003 and that the hoax e-mail doing the rounds again this summer is 4-year-old news, mischievously recycled without a year-date attached to it. So people (wrongly) infer it refers to 2007.

SO WHEN IS MARS AT ITS CLOSEST, THEN?

Opposition next happened on 30th October 2005 and it is about to happen again this December, with opposition on December 24th and the closest point of approach on December 18th.

Wikipedia states:

"To the naked-eye, Mars usually appears a distinct yellow, orange, or reddish color, and varies in brightness more than any other planet as seen from Earth over the course of its orbit.

When farthest away from the Earth, it is more than seven times as far from the latter as when it is closest. When least favourably positioned, it can be lost in the Sun's glare for months at a time.

At its most favourable times—which occur twice every 32 years, alternately at 15 and 17-year intervals, and always between late July and late September—Mars shows a wealth of surface detail to a telescope. Especially noticeable, even at low magnification, are the polar ice caps.

The point of Mars’ closest approach to the Earth is known as opposition. The length of time between successive oppositions, or the Synodic period, is 780 days. Because of the eccentricities of the orbits, the times of opposition and minimum distance can differ by up to 8.5 days.

The minimum distance varies between about 55 and 100 million km due to the planets' elliptical orbits. The next Mars opposition will occur on December 24, 2007.

On August 27, 2003, at 9:51:13 UT, Mars made its closest approach to Earth in nearly 60,000 years: 55,758,006 km (approximately 35 million miles). This occurred when Mars was one day from opposition and about three days from its perihelion, making Mars particularly easy to see from Earth. (NB Such an opposition is known as a perihelic opposition).

The last time it came so close is estimated to have been on September 12, 57,617 BC., the next time being in 2287. However, this record approach was only very slightly closer than other recent close approaches. For instance, the minimum distance on August 22, 1924 was 0.37284 AU, compared to 0.37271 AU on August 27, 2003, and the minimum distance on August 24, 2208 will be 0.37278 AU.

The orbital changes of Earth and Mars are making the approaches nearer: the 2003 record will be bettered 22 times by the year 4000."

THIS YEAR'S OPPOSITION

Mars will not be as close as it was in 2003. This is not a perihelic opposition. It will be 55 million miles (as compared to 35 million miles in 2003) on December 18th, and as you might expect, if it's further away than in 2003, it won't be as bright as it was in 2003, will it?

In 2003 it peaked at magnitude -2.9, marginally brighter than Jupiter (peak brightness -2.8) on 27/8/2003. This Christmas, it will peak at -1.65, only marginally brighter than Sirius (magnitude -1.46) and it will be brighter than -1.5 for only three weeks, from December 12th to 31st. And obviously, if it is not as bright, you won't be able to see as much detail in a telescope, as a consequence (or need a bigger telescope).

ON AUGUST 27th 2007

Mars will be 105 million miles from earth (three times the distance the hoax e-mail claims it will be at) and magnitude 0.7 (i.e. plus 0.7). It will be in Taurus, close to the first magnitude star Aldebaran, which is a orange-red giant of brightness 0.85, is the 14th brightest star in the night sky, and is known as the Bull's Eye.

If one follows the three stars of Orion's belt from left to right (in the Northern Hemisphere) or right to left (in the Southern), the first bright star found by continuing that line is Aldebaran. Mars will be next door to it, and marginally brighter.

But not as bright or as large as the Moon, as the hoaxsters claim of course. Mars will be about eight or nine times brighter (2.3 magnitudes brighter) in December than it will be on 27th August, when it is still twice the distance away that it will reach in December.

The idea that the close approach is every year and is always on August 27th is just so much nonsense, revealing the ignorance of the hoaxsters. It is not like it is a birthday, a wedding anniversary, or Mother's Day. Oppositions of Mars are 780 days apart NOT 365 days apart!

Answer 2

That old spam dates from 2003 when Mars did come closer than it had in the last 50,000 years. But it did not look as big as the Moon then. It never gets close enough to look that big. It just looks like a bright star at such times.

Mars will next pass close this winter, but not nearly as close as it did in 2003.

Answer 3

I think we are there rabbits. Just as we humans use animals to fight our diseases, by injecting them with it, the aliens are using humans. We are in there lab, being studied, in order to fix there genetic and viral and bacterial diseases. Just as a bug thinks the back yard is all there is, we are just in a tank, in a lab, and the sun is the light bulb and the moon a salt wheel. (But I do think the bible and aliens have a lot in common. The angels come from the clouds, people getting took into the clouds, and such.

Answer 4

its not going to happen. everyone gets those emails. ITS NOT HAPPENING that email is sent every year, and every year people with even a little bit of common sense and knowledge try to make people understand that.

Answer 5

You got an email that warned you that was meant to warn you in 2003 and someone is using it as spam