Mars

[JOYce]

SOME FACTS MARS will appear AS BIG AS THE MOON!

FIRST TIME IN AT LEAST 5,000 YEARS!

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.

On August 27, Mars will come 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 Augustto see Mars grow progressively

brighter

and brighter throughout the

month.

Share with your friends, children and grandchildren.

No one alive today will ever see this again!