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Mars or not?
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CopyThe following email notice has been circulating for the last couple of months. Possibly, you have seen it; possibly not. Of course, we were curious and stayed awake until 12:30 a.m. Friday, August 27, just to see if we could see Mars, although NASA, other scientists and astronomers and the ever-reliable Snopes all stated that this was a hoax. The email read: "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 10 p.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 12:30 a.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"
The truth is, I'm afraid, that most likely, this was a hoax. The night was clear, no clouds anywhere, and immediately, we
noticed a rather bright star or possibly a planet that appeared near the moon, but was much smaller than the moon, however not nearly as equal in intensity. It was much, much brighter than any other star in the night sky, yes. But was it Mars? Probably not. Or maybe it was.
According to Snopes, "Some things never go out of style, and this "Mars Spectacular" message is one of them. It's another example of widely-circulated e-mails containing information that was once true but continues to be forwarded every year. Mars did make a close approach to Earth several years ago on 27 August 2003, when the red planet came within 35 million miles of Earth, its nearest approach to us in almost 60,000 years. At that time,
Mars appeared approximately 6 times larger and 85 times brighter in the sky than it ordinarily does. Although Mars' proximity to Earth in August 2003 (referred to as a perihelic opposition) was a rare occurrence, the red planet comes almost as near to us every 15 to 17 years. To the unaided observer, Mars' appearance in August 2003 wasn't significantly larger or. brighter than it is during those much more common intervals of closeness.
"Mars had another close encounter with Earth in 2005, but that occurrence took place in October, appearing 20% smaller than it did in 2003. Mars also made a close approach to Earth in December 2007, but even then it was still about 55 million miles away from us, not nearly as close as it was in 2003 or 2005. Not until 2018 will our view of Mars be similar to the one that was available in 2003, and it won't be until the year 2287 that Mars will come closer to Earth than it did back in
2003."
According to EarthSky scientists and astronomers, "This all sounds amazing! Can it possibly be true? No. It can't. The email is a hoax. It has circulated every summer since 2003. Mars can never appear as large as a full moon as seen from Earth.
"In fact, in August of 2010 Mars appears as a modestly bright star in the western evening sky. Mars was substantially brighter earlier this year, shining most brilliantly when it came closest to Earth for the year on January 27, 2010.. Even so, Mars looked like a bright star, with nowhere the size or brilliance of the full moon. In fact, the only time that Mars "doubled up" with the full moon this year was on the night of January 29, 2010. But as seen from earth, Mars' diameter was 1/140th the diameter of the full moon."
So, once again, how did this rumor of Mars-as-big-and-bright-as-the-moon get started? It started with an actual event, in 2003. On August 27 of that year, Earth and Mars came very slightly closer than they'd been in nearly 60,000 years. Our two worlds, center-to-center, were less than 35 million miles apart - just over three light-minutes apart. The last people to come so close to Mars were Neanderthals. Then, what actually happened, if anything, on August 27 of 2010? Nothing, really. By coincidence, there was a brilliant planet near the moon on that day--the king planet Jupiter. Did people look outside on the night of August 27 and see Jupiter near the moon - and think this brilliant world was Mars? Yes, probably. We most certainly did, just in case it was.
Copyright 2010 Grand Saline Sun, Grand Saline, Texas. All Rights Reserved. This content, including derivations, may not be stored or distributed in any manner, disseminated, published, broadcast, rewritten or reproduced without express, written consent from SmallTownPapers, Inc.
© 2011 Grand Saline Sun Grand Saline, Texas. All Rights Reserved. This content, including derivations, may not be stored or distributed in any manner, disseminated, published, broadcast, rewritten or reproduced without express, written consent from DAS.
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