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Tuesday, 01 August 2006 |
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Tropical Breeze photo by Sue Suby
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Mars Won’t Be As Big And Bright As The Full Moon
Anyone who has an email account probably has received an alert that “Mars will be extremely close to Earth on August 27.” Some versions of this bogus message assert that the two planets will not be in such close proximity again during the lifetime of any living person. Furthermore, Mars “will appear as big and bright as the full moon.”
Sorry, it happened three years ago. But even on August 27, 2003 — when Mars really was at its closest approach in recorded history — a 75-power telescope was required to make the Red Planet appear nearly as large as the moon, which was photographed above on July 9 as clouds scudded across a nearly full moon. In fact, on this August 27, NASA reports Mars will not be visible at all. A slender new moon will glow near Spica, the brightest star of the constellation Virgo.
The next time Mars approaches as closely as it did in 2003 will not occur until the year 2287. Meanwhile, enjoy the moon.
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