Something everyone should see!

[Secret Soliloquy]

I have copied and pasted this from something a friend gave me:

The Red Planet is about to be spectacular!

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

I do hope you all take a look and write about what you see.
^_^

 

[nice gaijin]

That certainly is interesting, I'll have to go out and take a look tonight.

 

[DoctorP]

You may want to check this out (I knew I had seen this somewhere before)

snopes.com

The piece quoted above is another example of an item that was once true but is now being circulated again, long after the events it describes have come to pass. This article was relevant back in 2003, but it is not applicable now, three years later.
Mars did make an extraordinarily close approach to Earth which culminated on 27 August 2003, when the red planet came within 35 million miles (or 56 million kilometers) of Earth, its nearest approach to us in almost 60,000 years.

 

[nice gaijin]

haha, come to think of it I do remember hearing something similar a couple years back. At any rate, Mars will be at opposition and will still be very large and bright.

 

[DoctorP]

I had the same email forwarded to me again this year. I tossed it right after I read it though.

 

[ArmandV]

Everything depends upon the position of Uranus.

 

[Flashjeff]

Fascinating! Truly fascinating! Well, you'll excuse me while I hole up in the nearest bomb shelter. Every time Mars comes close to Earth, we get invaded by those damn Martians, and I'd like to keep on living for a little while.

 

[MajideSaiaku]

For mars to come that close would probably mean its been knocked out of orbit, highly unlikely.

Nice try but little substance in reality.

 

[nice gaijin]

But it did get that close back in '03. It's a part of its orbit, but it's a very rare occurance.

 

[Supervin]

Everything depends upon the position of Uranus.

How... and why Uranus?

 

[Secret Soliloquy]

Ok, that's too bad it's not real. Guess I was so excited I didn't check up.

 

[nice gaijin]

How... and why Uranus?

It's a really old English pun, since Uranus sounds a lot like "Your Anus."

Reminds me of a Futurama quote. "We changed the name back in 2620 to get rid of that horrible joke forever."
"So what's it called now?"
"Urectum."