One of my chums in Amarillo sent an alert about an amazing nightly sight that awaits us in August 2005. I first thought about Mars when I read Edgar Rice Burroughs' series of John Carter novels. John Carter was a Virginia gentleman who somehow was transported through space to Mars. On Mars, Carter encounters a complex civilization that was echoed later in John Clavell's novel, Shogun. Both John Carter and John Blackthorne were strangers in a strange place. Later, I read Robert Heinlein's Mars novels and Arthur C. Clarke's The Sands of Mars. If this is (fair & balanced) fantasy, so be it.
[x John Walker's e-mail to this blogger]
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 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
Copyright © 2005 John Walker
Tuesday, June 21, 2005
Mark Your August Calendars
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