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View Full Version : Mars attacks!


Hitcher
2nd August 2006, 19:25
Something to look forward to in the evening sky this month!
TonyB
2nd August 2006, 19:31
Erm, didn't this happen last year? And as big as the full moon??
Skunk
2nd August 2006, 19:48
Does anyone else get pissed off at Powerpoint slides on speed control? :zzzz:

I got as far as the date - 27 August 2006.
Colapop
2nd August 2006, 20:01
That's cool in a geeky astronomical kinda way.
Mental Trousers
2nd August 2006, 20:09
WHY IN THE HELL DO PEOPLE FEEL THE NEED TO PUT CUTESY MUSIC IN DAMN POWERPOINT FILES!!!!!!!!!!!

I wish people that do that would die horribly.
Waylander
2nd August 2006, 20:13
There was music? Glad I havn't turned my stereo on then.
Qkchk
2nd August 2006, 20:17
I would assume this is for the Southern Hemisphere and not the Northern? Otherwise the times will be diffrent.............
bugjuice
2nd August 2006, 20:18
l.o.l. balls.
mdooher
2nd August 2006, 20:24
Sorry Guys... this is a complete load of..... even if Mars was at its closest point ever it is still a long long long way away. You cant possibly believe that within 24 days it will get that close :)
MidnightMike
2nd August 2006, 20:43
is this able to be seen reasonably easy with the naked eye or do you need one of those telescopes. :sunny:
Qkchk
2nd August 2006, 20:46
Shit, if you look out to the upper quadrant to the north-west you can see uranus............:moon:
babyB
2nd August 2006, 20:51
lol Skunk...:wait: ...wishes i could get broadband:doobey:
Skyryder
2nd August 2006, 22:14
It's old 2003 ws when it happened

http://urbanlegends.about.com/library/bl_mars_encounter_2006.htm

Bummer might have been fun.

Skyryder
Hitcher
7th August 2006, 12:41
Curses! Time to sell the telescope...
Nitzer
8th August 2006, 14:58
Must admit I thought it was a wind-up....but maybe not

www.stardome.org.nz/archived/mars.html


Ha, just realised....archived. It was 2003. Bugger!
Skunk
10th August 2006, 15:41
Form the best source:
Mars has an eccentricity higher than most of the other planets in the solar system, and has an average distance from the Sun of roughly 230 million km (1.5 AU). Its orbital period is 687 (Earth) days, but the solar day (or sol) on Mars is only slightly more than an Earth day: 24 hours, 39 minutes, and 35.244 seconds. See Timekeeping on Mars.
Approximately every 780 days opposition occurs, which is when Mars is nearest to Earth. This minimum distance varies between about 55 and 100 million km due to the planets' elliptical orbits. [27] The next Mars opposition will occur on December 24, 2007.
On August 27, 2003, at 9:51:13 UT, Mars made its closest approach to Earth in nearly 60,000 years: 55,758,006 km (approximately 35 million miles) without Light-time correction. This occurred when Mars was one day from opposition and about three days from its perihelion, making Mars particularly easy to see from Earth. The last time it came so close is estimated to have been on September 12, 57,617 BC. Detailed analysis of the solar system's gravitational landscape forecasts an even closer approach in 2287. However, this record approach was only very slightly closer than other recent close approaches. For instance, the minimum distance on August 22, 1924 was 0.37284 AU, compared to 0.37271 AU on August 27, 2003, and the minimum distance on August 24, 2208 will be 0.37278 AU.[28]