[GreenKeys] Fw: [South Florida DX Association] Solar Happening

[Richard M. Gillingham]

Got this a while back.  now that the mainstream media has put it out I guess
I can...  Why not.

RG
----- Original Message ----- 
From: <K2EWB@aol.com>
To: <SFDXA@mailman.qth.net>
Sent: Thursday, July 31, 2003 8:12 AM
Subject: [South Florida DX Association] Solar Happening


>
> I'd suggest you have a camera available for the latter part of August.
>
> There should be a good chance for another kind of EME. This time you'll
have
> Earth Mars Earth without a huge antenna array. Of course the echo delay
will
> be a whole lot longer.
>
>
> This is worth sharing.
>
> 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 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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