--
-Time flies like the wind. Fruit flies like a banana. Stranger things have -
-happened but none stranger than this. Does your driver's license say Organ
-Donor?Black holes are where God divided by zero. Listen to me! We are all-
-individuals! What if this weren't a hypothetical question?
steveo at syslang.net
---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Wed, 30 Jul 2003 15:19:28 -0700
From: Jon Callas <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: The Eristocracy <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Subject: Mars: Here's a chance to see something that no one alive today
will ever see again
CLOSE ENCOUNTER WITH MARS
Never again in your lifetime will the Red Planet be so
spectacular.
This month and next, Earth is catching up with Mars,
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.
The encounter will culminate on Tuesday, August 27th
when Mars comes to within 34,649,589 miles 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, Mars will
rise in the east at 10 p.m. and reach its azimuth at
about 3 a.m. But 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 12:30 a.m.
That's pretty convenient when it comes to seeing
something that no human 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 with your children and grandchildren. No one
alive today will ever see this again.
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