MARS SPECTACULAR COMI

MR
From: Melvin Robinson
MR
Subject: MARS SPECTACULAR COMING--Huh?
MR
Date: Sun, 19 Jun 2005 20:43:21 -0500

This is all over the news and internet in New York, too. In fact,
at a lecture I attended on space travel on Monday the 20th of June,
the speaker pointed out the august closst proximity for Mars. I will
not embarrass the speaker by name, but he flew a few times on the
Space Shuttle. He picked up the news from these erroneous articles.
My SpaceWalk column for July, coming your wat by July 1st at
'www.nsschapters.org/ny/nyc', will have an alert about th wrong Mars
news. The raders are mostly space fans who are resources for questions
about, well, Moon, Mars, and Beyond.
I also note that the flareup of comet Tempel-1 -- if there even IS
one -- will NOT be seen from New York (where the NYC Chapter of NSS is
homed) 'coz the comet is already set by impace hour. Yet news items
about the crash simply tell the reader to look in the southwest at,
for EDST, 02:00 on July 4th to see the explosion that will light up
the sky like an Iridium flare.
What makes our task as atronomers all the more tough is that the
artciles about Mars often have quotes from astronomers and
observatories. These were in the 2003 piece, merely reprinted for this
year. The editor or originator of the circulated piece removed the
year. So it's icky to tell a friend that the such-&-such observatory
is 'wrong'. It WAS correct, two years ago.


MR Somebody is recirculating this two year old story. Two people have
MR written to me recently to ask about the August 27 record breaking
MR close approach.
MR
MR This year, Mars is largest in our skies on October 30 at 20.17
MR arcseconds, a few days before opposition.
MR
MR I haven't been engaged much in astronomy for months because of our bad weather
MR here in California. Although the last few weeks have been pretty decent, my
MR schedule has been filled with other matters. I've had two people send me the
MR message below. Am I missing something. That was last year wasn't it? Did Mars
MR get a bump? :-)
MR
MR *Subject:* MARS SPECTACULAR COMING
MR
MR Those of you who live in the L.A. area, fugetiboutit.
MR You can't see your hand in front of your face. LOL!!!
MR
MR MARS SPECTACULAR!
MR
MR The Red Planet is about to be spectacular! This month and next,
MR Earth is
MR catching up with Mars in an encounter that will culminate in the
MR closest
MR approach between the two planets in recorded history. The next time
MR Mars
MR may come this close is in 2287. Due to the way Jupiter's gravity
MR tugs on
MR Mars and perturbs its orbit, astronomers can only be certain that Mars
MR has not come this close to Earth in the Last 5,000 years, but it may be
MR as long as 60,000 years before it happens again.
MR . . .

---
þ RoseReader 2.52á P005004


----== Posted via Newsfeeds.Com - Unlimited-Uncensored-Secure Usenet News==----
http://www.newsfeeds.com The #1 Newsgroup Service in the World! 100,000 Newsgroups
---= East/West-Coast Server Farms - Total Privacy via Encryption =---