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OUT OF THIS WORLD | What's New in Space – The Biggest News Descending from the Earth from Space
Scott Sutherland
Meteorologist / Scientific Editor
Friday, July 6, 2018, 5:32 PM – Have you seen? a little red light in the night sky, getting brighter and brighter, night by night? This is the planet Mars, and by the end of July, the red planet is approaching its closest crossing by Earth for decades!
Mars, the Fourth Planet of the Sun, will line up on Earth and the Sun on July 27, for an annual event known as the Opposition. That's when the Sun, Earth and Mars will be aligned perfectly, with Mars on the opposite side of the Sun's Earth. At that time, Mars will be up all night, from dusk till dawn, and will cross the sky with the complete Thunder Moon – the fullest Moon of the smallest apogee and the most distant of 2018. Coincidentally, it will also be the night of a total lunar eclipse, which will be the longest total lunar eclipse for the next century!
Four nights later – July 31 – Mars reaches its closest point to the Earth.
March to the nearest approach, a few days after his opposition. Credit: NASA GSVS
Mars will be only 57.6 million kilometers from Earth at this time.
It is the closest approach to Mars since 1945 while it was 55.7 million kilometers, and there will be no approaching closer until 2035 when it will reach 56.9 million km
Thus, it is the largest and brightest of Mars that we will see in about 32 years!
In 2018, Mars will appear the brightest from July 27 to July 30. His closest approach to Earth is July 31st. This is the point of the orbit of Mars when it comes closest to the Earth. Mars will be at a distance of 57.6 million kilometers. Credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech
At the present time, Mars is experiencing a global dust storm, which is erasing some of the surface details of the planet.
Just look at the views that some see on Mars Now, weeks before the closest approach, however, it's still worth checking out Mars at this time.
#March June 28th. https://t.co/TJ9jgkV9Xk Well seen for this view on the 28th. The peaks of Tharsis volcanoes stick over the thick layer of dust that appears like dark spots. Visible changes in the dark bands across the record of the day before (due to the movement of dust clouds.) pic.twitter.com/LfxLoIq7Om
Mars hoax email. Courtesy: Denver
Science and Nature MuseumNormally this post is for the date of August 27, but with the next close pass of July 31, it seems like the perfect opportunity for hoaxes to resurrect their story and change the date. So, keep an eye out to see if it appears in your social media feed (and maybe send the authors here, in response).
The Pure and Simple Truth Us, the planet Mars has never come to appear as great as the Moon in the heavens of the Earth and it will never be.
The problem with the shared meme is that his message leaves out two really important details :
The actual event happened only in 2003, and it will only do repeat in 2287 and
• Even at these two dates, the only way the Moon and Mars appeared to be the same size is if you look at the Moon at the naked eye, and watch Mars through a telescope . 19659006] How can we be sure that this will not happen?Well, let's look at the two ways this can happen:
1) The closest Earth and Mars never got close is 54.6 million kilometers. It's about 142 times farther than the moon. So, if Mars were to appear as big as the Moon, from this distance, the planet should be more than three and a half times larger than Jupiter! In reality, Mars is smaller than Earth. So, it's impossible for Mars to appear as big as the Moon, at more than 54 million kilometers.
2) With a diameter of 6,779 km, Mars is just twice the size of the Moon (diameter 3,474 km). So, if you keep Mars the same size (not 3.5x the size of Jupiter), you should move Mars up to twice as far as the Moon, or about 750,000 km from the Earth. However, Mars getting closer to Earth is as impossible as the planet suddenly swells to 72 times its normal size. The Earth and Mars are locked in their respective orbits, reaching only 54.6 million km, due to the persistent gravitational influence of the major players in the solar system – the Sun and Jupiter. Something completely cataclysmic should happen to our solar system for this to change, and since nothing of the sort will happen (at least for billions of years), Mars will keep its distance from us.
There. Either you inflate the size of Mars by an impossible amount, or you move it incredibly close to the Earth, and none of these things will happen. Of course, given its persistence now, this meme of hoaxes will probably still appear, and may even continue to appear until the next time Mars reaches its closest absolute, in 2287 (depending on the fate of the loonie). Internet and Civilization
Also note: Some of the most recent additions to this hoax, especially in 2016, have attempted to add a measure of "doomsday" to meme, since seemingly non-apocalyptic memes do not are more powerful.Mostly from Russian news sites, these statements claimed that the close encounter with Mars had "caused panic in the scientific community", due to a previous meeting closest – in back in the year 57,617 BC – supposedly caused "changes in the earth's crust and climatic disasters."
This is also false, because Mars can not have this kind of fect on Earth to more than 50 million km. While Earth and Mars exert gravitational forces on each other, these forces become very tiny, very quickly as you move away. They are so small at a distance of 56 million km that they have no noticeable impact on the tectonics or climate of the Earth. Quite simply, if the crust and atmosphere of the Earth could be significantly influenced by such tiny forces, the Universe itself would never have been able to sustain itself. It would be so fragile that it just could not exist. Since the universe exists and we exist to experience it, there is no way for the meme or any of its apocalyptic additions to be true.
The best things to do for the approach of Mars Opposition, and the end of March is approaching shortly thereafter, is to keep an eye on the weather, to make sure you have clear skies , organize to acquire binoculars or a telescope, or see what kind of stars can occur in your area or around that night, so that you can not only experience this close pass, but also share the Experience with other skywatching enthusiasts. Even if no opportunity is available, go out and see Mars. It will be visible, shining in the night sky, even from the urban areas most heavily polluted by light.
Sources: NASA | FSNA | NASA | With files from The Weather Network
Look below: For science! – Breaking the scientific hoaxes
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