Light in the sky...

(Darren Drake) wrote in message . com...
You're looking at Mars.

Of course he is !

And on August 27th, 2003, it will be the closest it has ever been to Earth
for some 60,000 years !

;-)



Min Ph.D. wrote in message ...
"Rick Foster" wrote:
Min Ph.D. wrote:
On 06 Jul 2003, "Rick Foster" wrote:
Okay, so does anyone know what the orange/goldish looking light is...
It is visible in our area midnight to 3 am...
snippity snips

We have "noticed" it, between these times, and I didn't mean to indicate that
it is stationary in the sky. I have never seen it rise, but I am sure it must.
At 3AM it is fairly high in the sky, but I have never stayed up later to see it set.
We watched last night, as the Earth rotated, and this golden "star" moved along
the top of the apt. building we live in.
We had images of ufos, but were more concerned if it was a large asteroid, the
gov. simply wishes to keep quiet about at this time.
Thanks for all the info, I will use it, and see if I come up with a solution.

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First, if an asteroid were on a direct collision path
with Earth, we'd all know about it when "big brother"
did. Asteroids don't announce their arrival, but just
knock very very loudly on your door to make sure that
you are very much aware that the asteroid has arrived.
Unlike the government, there's no chain of command to
slow channels of communication...Hello, I'm the giant
asteroid that just blindsided Earth. Nice to meet you.

Second, an asteroid large enough to be so easily seen
from Earth would have put all other local, regional &
world news on the back-burner. The headline: ASTERIOD
TO STRIKE EARTH TOMORROW! ALL LIFE FACES ANNIHILATION!

Third, you stated hereinbefore that "it is visible in
our area midnight to 3 am". That's interesting, since
yours is a stark contradiction to what you've already
stated in your follow-up to wit "I have never seen it
rise". Any star or planet would have to have risen by
around midnight for you to see it, as you say "fairly
high in the Eastern sky @3 AM"...your words, not mine.
So the question is How could you know that this light
is visible around midnight, but not observe it rising?
The only way you could possibly see it at 12 AM is to
have seen it rising in close proximity to the horizon.

Fourth, you can pull up your exact observing location
in Astrolog, SkyMap, or any worthy astronomy software
using the JPL ephemeris and examine this for yourself.
Include known asteroids and comets while you're at it.
I picked Tallahassee, FL in "SkyMap Pro 9", which you
or anyone can download the full-function demo version
of from this URL http://www.skymap.com/smp_eval.htm,
and click ToolsPhenomenaDaily Events..., and voilla,
all planetary risings, transits & settings for Monday
07 Jul 2003 EDT at your location are shown as follows:

01:36 Moon sets
03:38 Neptune transits the meridian
04:57 Uranus transits the meridian
05:05 Start of astronomical twilight
05:19 Pluto sets
05:20 Mars transits the meridian
05:41 Start of nautical twilight
05:50 Venus rises
05:57 Saturn rises
06:14 Start of civil twilight
06:41 Sun rises
06:50 Mercury rises
08:58 Neptune sets
09:23 Jupiter rises
10:31 Uranus sets
10:50 Mars sets
12:52 Venus transits the meridian
12:55 Saturn transits the meridian
13:42 Sun transits the meridian
13:55 Mercury transits the meridian
14:25 Moon rises
16:04 Jupiter transits the meridian
18:16 Pluto rises
19:54 Saturn sets
19:54 Venus sets
20:21 Moon transits the meridian
20:43 Sun sets
20:59 Mercury sets
21:10 End of civil twilight
21:43 End of nautical twilight
22:13 Neptune rises
22:19 End of astronomical twilight
22:44 Jupiter sets
23:18 Uranus rises
23:45 Pluto transits the meridian
23:47 Mars rises
^^^^^ ^^^^ ^^^^^
But you can't possibly be talking about Mars...can you?
If so, at 3am Mars is past South-East and moving South,
i.e. Mars is in the Southern sky 3 AM, not the Eastern.
At 3 AM, Mars is near azimuth 137*05' altitude +34*49'.
Nothing personal, but if you can't tell the difference
from South and East, or your nextdoor neighbor planets
from secret government asteroid conspiracies, then you
might think about taking a nice and restful sabbatical.

That's my advice,
Daniel Joseph Min

*Min's Home Page On The World Wide Web:
http://groups.google.com/groups?selm...amesh-frog.org

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Rick Foster wrote in message ...
World War Three 2003 wrote:

(Darren Drake) wrote in message . com...
You're looking at Mars.

Of course he is !

And on August 27th, 2003, it will be the closest it has ever been to Earth
for some 60,000 years !

Thanks for the input. 60,000 years? Does this have anything to do with that Planet X some people speak of? Pushing the
orbit of Mars closer to Earth?


Nothing to do with Planet X

Planet X (Nibiru) not scheduled to make close pass to Earth until
November 8, 2003......

Whether this will have any gravitational effects on Earth: unknown at
this stage
-- in other words -- pure speculation

Separating himself from Baghdad Bob, (World War Three 2003) whined:

Planet X (Nibiru) not scheduled to make close pass to Earth until
November 8, 2003......

But, since Planet X doesn't exist, it CAN'T ever be 'closest' to Earth in any way.






To reply by email, remove the XYZ.

Lumber Cartel (tinlc) #2063. Spam this account at your own risk.

It's your SIG, say what you want to say....

Please disregard Daniel Joseph Min. He is a long time troll in this
newsgroup of otherwise intelligent and congenial astronomy hobbiests. He
keeps bringing in his silliness about astrology, trying to pawn it off as
factual on unsuspecting beginners. Lurk here for a while and you'll see his
methods...you've already had a taste of his personality.

Don't hesitate to ask questions. He just got back to you first.

Hap Griffin
www.machunter.org

"Rick Foster" wrote in message
...

Thanks for the input. 60,000 years? Does this have anything to do
with that Planet X some people speak of?

Short answer. No.
Longer answer, because there is no Planet X.

Pushing the
orbit of Mars closer to Earth?

Mars orbit hasn't altered. It's simply at aphelion (closet point to the Sun
in its orbit) at the time we pass Mars in it's
orbit this year, a regular (by astronomical time intervals) occurrence.

The CO

The CO wrote:

Mars orbit hasn't altered. It's simply at aphelion (closet point to the Sun
in its orbit) at the time we pass Mars in it's
orbit this year, a regular (by astronomical time intervals) occurrence.

That should be "perihelion". The "aphelion" is the point of maximum
distance from the sun.

--Odysseus

"Odysseus" wrote in message
...
The CO wrote:

Mars orbit hasn't altered. It's simply at aphelion (closet point to the
Sun
in its orbit) at the time we pass Mars in it's
orbit this year, a regular (by astronomical time intervals) occurrence.

That should be "perihelion". The "aphelion" is the point of maximum
distance from the sun.

Yer right, my typo, to be more specific, Earth is close to its Aphelion,
whilst Mars is close to Perihelion,
it's the combination of the 2 whilst the planets are close in their orbital
paths that makes for the close pass
this year.

The CO

The CO wrote:

Yer right, my typo, to be more specific, Earth is close to its Aphelion,
whilst Mars is close to Perihelion,
it's the combination of the 2 whilst the planets are close in their orbital
paths that makes for the close pass
this year.

Yes; the earth is at aphelion in early July each year. Since Mars's
orbit is much more eccentric than our planet's, the closest approach
will occur nearer to the time of Mars's perihelion than to that of
Earth's aphelion.

--Odysseus