Hi,
I have recently read that the Red planet is about to be spectacular like never before.
This month and next, Earth is catching up with Mars in and encounter that will culminate in the closest approach between the two planets in recorded history.
The next time Mars may come this close is 2287.
Due to the way Jupiters gravity tugs on Mars and perturbs its orbit, astronomers can only be certain that Mars has not come this close toe 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 the 27th when Mars comes to within 34,649,589 miles of Earth and will be literally (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 and will be as easy to spot as the moon.
At the beginning of August it will rise in the East at 10pm and reach azimuth(highest point in the sky) at about 3am
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 12.30am (midnight).
Thats pretty convenient to see something that no human being has seen in recorded history .
So, mark your calender guys at the beginning of August and watch Mars go to the size of our full progessively brighter and brighter throughout the month.
Share this with your children and grandchildren for NO ONE alive today will ever see this again !!!
This is a hoax - for Mars to appear as large as the full moon it would have to pass to within 750,949km of earth.
http://space.about.com/od/astronomynews/a/marsclose2005_2.htm
Close Approach of Mars in 2005
From Nick Greene,
Your Guide to Space / Astronomy.Will We See a Record Approach - Mars Closest to
It is possible you’ve received an email which says that Mars will be closest to Earth in August in 50,000 years. Sorry, that was 2 years ago, you’re reading a recycled email. This year’s closest approach will be October 29, and although it will be spectacular, it is not a record breaker.
So, why are we getting closer to Mars? Imagine two cars on a race track. If one is closer to the center of the track and traveling faster, it will eventully catch up to and pass the outer car. This is what is happening with Earth and Mars, we are “lapping” the Red Planet.Those of us who simply enjoy looking up at the night sky are not the only ones interested in Mars’ close approach. NASA is planning to launch the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) on August 10th, 2005. It will take over 6 months for the orbiter to reach the Red Planet.
This timing will allow MRO to overtake Mars and arrive in March 2006. Once it enters orbit it starts a 2-year mission to map Mars in great detail. The MRO has high-resolution cameras which can spot objects as as small as 1 meter or less. It will use a RADAR sounder to search for water and spectrometers to look for minerals.The orbiter will also help us learn more about Mars weather aptterns.
On Halloween night, 2005, will be the best view. It will rise at sunset and hang overhead through most of the night. So, grab a sky map and start watching the approach of Mars, then enjoy the big show on October 31.
Ill take a video clip for you man of stoat and show you the proof, i have been watching it every night and it is getting larger 
And right after i had posted that last message it came on the news.
Look, mong, do the maths:
Diameter of the moon is 3476km, distance from earth is 384,000km.
Diameter of Mars is 6750km
Now, when you were 11, you will have been taught about similar triangles.
Work out the distance from Earth that mars would have to be to appear as large as the moon. It’s a lot less than 34.65 million miles…
THIS IS A WELL-KNOWN HOAX E-MAIL FFS!!!
It was just on the news man :shock: , I studied space for quite a while at TAFE and specifically about Mars, its possible with the certain matter !!
Just cos it’s on the news or in the paper doesn’t make it true - journalists are not reknowned for being the brightest people on the planet.
Look, mate, it’s an old hoax which has been recently recycled.
http://www.hoax-slayer.com/mars-earth-close.html
What you are hearing now is the sound of a dead horse being flogged - is your arm getting tired?
EDIT - the correct data, from Rednova: http://www.rednova.com/news/space/152719/a_breathtaking_close_encounter_with_mars/
We won’t actually lap Mars until autumn, October 31st at 0319 Universal Time, to be exact. Only 43 million miles (69 million km) will separate us from Mars, then, compared to an average distance of about 140 million miles (225 million kilometers).
Well… We’ll see on August 27 now won’t we? I know I’ll be watching :lol:
It sure will…it may be the 26th or 28th regarding on where you live StalingradK.
For Australia its the 27th.
FFS, the closest approach of Mars this year is on October 29th!
Do some fecking research! I know you want to believe this hoax, but it’s just that - a hoax! :evil:
Or 30th, depending where you are for a start:
http://www.tnni.net/~dustymars/Article_2005.htm
And look at this google search statement:
http://www.google.nl/search?hl=nl&q=mars+closest+approach+2005&meta=
Ill phone up my local observatory and find out then Man of Stoat ok ?
You are probably right because i know what time of the year and periods that the planets revolves around the Sun but this was on the News mate and i was pretty shocked myself just like you were. :shock: 8)
Man of Stoat, you proved me wrong , but it did happen , but in 2003 :shock: , the news i heard was them saying how close the planets normally get each year.
It will just be a small bright star on August 27th as usual and nothing more 
No, it was never as big as the full moon to the naked eye. The original message from a few years ago said “At a modest 75-power magnification Mars will look as large as the full moon to the naked eye”.
But, to the naked eye, it was NEVER as large as the full moon.
LOL Stoat, I do love it when you get the bit between your teeth. 8)
Man of Stoat, I heard that NASA will be launching another shuttle to Mars very soon, a landing craft to set up a beacon.
They say some places on Mars there are traces of ice and old dirt with proof of water and i noticed where it looked like old lakes had been was huge craters, so if humans could ever live on Mars there will always be the drawback of having no atmosphere, welcoming meteors, asteroids to hit.
Now that sounds more like it! I saw it, pretty cool, it was even red. I never saw it anywhere near the size of the moon :shock: it looked like a very large star that was red.
Right, where do we start?
- NASA have never sent a shuttle out of earth’s orbit, let alone to Mars.
- Mars DOES have an atmosphere, but it’s thin and made mostly of carbon dioxide.
These are easily verifyable facts that you can check before posting!
Right, where do we start?
- NASA have never sent a shuttle out of earth’s orbit, let alone to Mars.
- Mars DOES have an atmosphere, but it’s thin and made mostly of carbon dioxide.
These are easily verifyable facts that you can check before posting![/quote]
I do not have to check my facts…
Mars does have an atmosphere true but my POINT is that the atmosphere does not entirely protect the planet from incoming space rock.
Currently USA has two rovers on it right now, one of them was minorly damaged from small rocks hitting the breach of it, Earth is not in danger of asteroids because of our complex Atmosphere burning them up.
Right, where do we start?
- NASA have never sent a shuttle out of earth’s orbit, let alone to Mars.
- Mars DOES have an atmosphere, but it’s thin and made mostly of carbon dioxide.
These are easily verifyable facts that you can check before posting![/quote]
I do not have to check my facts…
Mars does have an atmosphere true but my POINT is that the atmosphere does not entirely protect the planet from incoming space rock.
Currently USA has two rovers on it right now, one of them was minorly damaged from small rocks hitting the breach of it, Earth is not in danger of asteroids because of our complex Atmosphere burning them up.[/quote]
If you meant “rover” or “probe”, don’t use the word “shuttle”, since this means a specific type of vehicle.
If by “has no atmosphere” you mean “has a thin atmosphere which does not adequately protect…etc.etc.etc” you need to say so.