MARS AS BIG AS ZE MOON!!!

[topher chee]

I just heard this morning in my biology class that on August 27th or the 29th of August is when Mars will be the closest it has been in over 5,000 years.  It's supposed to be able to be seen around 10 p.m MST or whenever, Im not sure if it applies to all the different time zones but....yeah.  Im definately going to be taking pictures.

Questions  popped into my head such as he, couldnt we finally go to Mars since it'll be so close to Earth.  This would be a great oppurtunity for humans to deteriorate another country.  Poor Earth, look what we have done...

[Zina]

Why yes. Right now.
Get packing.

[Kasarn]

I expected this thread to be about Mars suddenly losing half of its diameter...

I am disappointed

And why are you talking about astronomy in biology?

[Netami]

I work in a business environment. I get a lot of stupid forwarded e-mails from the ladies in support.

This "mars will be seen by the naked eye" bullshit was one of them. It's fake. I saw the exact same e-mail in 2003.

Incoming debunking proof: http://www.universetoday.com/am/publish/beware_mars_haox.html

"Disappointed? Don't be. If Mars did come close enough to rival the Moon, its gravity would alter Earth's orbit and raise terrible tides."

[xHaZxMaTx]

I remember hearing about that on MySpace.  Mars will never be more than a little speck of light in our lifetime and in the coming millenia.

[Kasarn]

OH NOES D:

[ITOS]

OH NOES D:

It's Disney day!

[Sid]

*laughs about the planet-sized OH NOES image*

[mini-lion]

nope, there are a few occasions when you can see mars with your eye if the planets orbits are close in a orbitting sense, but its normally seen as a red shinning star like object

[Darkmoon]

That's a fairly regular occurance, actually. Being able to see it as more than just a "star" though... yeah, no.

[topher chee]

I expected this thread to be about Mars suddenly losing half of its diameter...

I am disappointed

And why are you talking about astronomy in biology?

because my teacher is that random.


and gee that sucks, he read it in the astology mag......oh well, lets just wait and see

[Aridas]

In the post itself, you only said that it'd be seen, not that we'd be able to really make it out.

[topher chee]

...ok im not sure what you meant  but what i wrote is what I know

plus.....mars is way bigger than the moon so it actually does not have to get that close to earth, though im not sure how close is too close on whaty netami had said

[llearch n'n'daCorna]

topher - it's not -that- much bigger. The moon is actually -really- big, for a moon, for a planet our size.

Mars is pretty small, as planets go. The difference is not as big as you'd think.

I believe my son has a book about astronomy - I'll see if I can dig the relevant numbers up.

[Amber Williams]

I'm afraid you are a bit confused on things Topher.  Mars being bigger than the moon doesn't really matter that much in the scheme of things. I mean...Jupiter is the biggest planet we have, yet it doesnt necesarrily mean its more likely to show up in the night sky.

Lets simplify and sciencify!

The Moon is 384,403 kilometers distant from the Earth. Its diameter is 3,476 kilometers.

While Mars and Earth's distance varies, at their closest they are about 100 million km apart,
while at their most distant they are about 380 million km apart.

Please note, that is 100 million.  Meaning 100,000,000 apart.

The diameter of Mars is 6787 km.  So really it is only twice as big as the moon. (the Earths moon is actually the fifth largest moon in all our solar system) 

So we are dealing with a planet that is only twice as big as our moon, but almost 100x as far away from Earth.

--------------------
I would like to note that there is an occurance, usually in the fall season...where the moon when rising will look rather large and red.  At a strange glance it might even look like a second sunrise, or in some cases, a red planet.  However after a bit, the red tint fades and it turns back into a shiny full moon...usually the Harvest Moon actually.
--------------------

Anyways, no one here is trying to claim you or your teacher are foolish...its an easy enough thing to assume.  However, come that evening, there will likely be many disapointed people.  Either that or it will be cloudy and people will assume that they just missed the event.

[vulpesweasel]

reminds me of disgaea:
------
Red moon, red moon,
Cleanses the sinful and makes them anew,
Shining brightly, in the night sky,
Waiting for the souls,
Who will be born again tonite?
Who will be born again tonite?
-------------------

[Netami]

Deep, deep.

[Blazehawk]

 



But seriously, the closest pass I believe was a couple years back, 2003 or 2004...I can't remember  . You could get a really awesome view of it with a nice telescope, but that was about it. But I was excited.  I got to look through one of the really nice ones the Science Center has back home, and I saw the icecaps.

[Rowne]

Indeed and when we can't see it properly, there's always Celestia, which is nice.

Nothing much to add to this topic really, it does interest me though in regards to the level of attention that's drawn by a planet being visible to the naked eye.  It's just something about the explorer in all of us, I suppose.  Though we'll be Earthbound and wrapped in red tape for a long time to come yet, before we finally do hop to places like Mars.

[llearch n'n'daCorna]

My thanks, Amber. You saved me all the effort of walking upstairs. :-)

My favourite quote about the space program is as follows:
"Cutting the space budget really restores my faith in humanity.  It eliminates dreams, goals, and ideals and lets us get straight to the business of hate, debauchery, and self-annihilation."
     --Johnny Hart

[topher chee]

aha! with this information i can now chew my teacher out! 

[Sketchy boy]

You know that if the pull got too strong then mars could run into earth right?  If our orbits start coming in contact it is possible that mars might intercep and throw us off of orbit and make it colder or slingshot us to make the earth hotter.

These are jsut guess of what might happen, if this was true, NASA would be on it and it would be all over the news.

[topher chee]

you gotta point, st00pid teacher

[Damaris]

I'm surprised no one has mentioned that this was debunked on Snopes.

[llearch n'n'daCorna]

That would be too easy :-)

[Netami]

I'm surprised no one has mentioned that this was debunked on Snopes.

I did mention it was debunked, you know, earlier in the thread.

[Damaris]

Yes, but I'm surprised no one linked to Snopes.  They have quite a detailed article on this, and many of the forumers seem like the type to read it obsessively.

Read my entire sentance before getting snippy, please.

[Manawolf]

I expected this thread to be about Mars suddenly losing half of its diameter...

I am disappointed

And why are you talking about astronomy in biology?

because my teacher is that random.


and gee that sucks, he read it in the astology mag......oh well, lets just wait and see

Remember folks, Astronomy is the actual science of studying the heavenly bodies.  Astrology is just about making **** up about their movements and how it affects people.

[topher chee]

haha