Mars is coming!! The end is near!!!

POSTED BY: AURaptor
UPDATED: Wednesday, July 27, 2005 12:29
VIEWED: 4397
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AURAPTOR

Saturday, July 23, 2005 4:23 PM

More like Mars came and went. Sorry. Like I said, I hadn't checked the story out before posting. So much for remembering that historical event.

LETSBEBADGUYS

Saturday, July 23, 2005 4:29 PM

Wow!

Mal: "We're not gonna die. We can't die, Bendis. You know why? Because we are so...very...pretty. We are just too pretty for God to let us die."

FINN MAC CUMHAL

Saturday, July 23, 2005 4:40 PM

Unfortunately, your friend, or whoever FWed this to you, got the month right, but left out the year, which was 2003.

Sorry.

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Qui desiderat pacem praeparet bellum.

AURAPTOR

Saturday, July 23, 2005 4:44 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by Finn mac Cumhal:
Unfortunately, your friend, or whoever FWed this to you, got the month right, but left out the year, which was 2003.

Sorry.

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Qui desiderat pacem praeparet bellum.

”
Doh!!

" They don't like it when you shoot at 'em. I worked that out myself. "

ROCKETJOCK

Saturday, July 23, 2005 5:03 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by AURaptor:

(Who was apparently quoting an anonymous E-mail - RocketJock)

"Mars will look as large as the full moon to the naked eye."

"Mars will rise at nightfall and reach its highest point in the sky at 12:30a.m."

So sayeth the e-mail. I've not looked into it yet, but it sounds down right shiny.

Umm, maybe you should have looked into it a little bit. One, since Mars is only about twice as big as Earth's moon, it would have to approach the Earth at no further than twice Luna's orbital position to appear the same size. Luna is about a quarter-million miles from earth, so Mars would have to be no further than half a million miles away. According to Wikipedia, Mar's closest approach to Earth in recent years was on August 27, 2003, when it was approximately 35 million miles away. A bit of Tenessee windage there, eh?

Also, above what point on Earth would Mars "rise at nightfall"? It's always sunset on some point on Earth, but unless Mars was orbiting Earth in a Geocentric orbit above the equator, it's apparent position would not follow the sunset terminator line.

Whoever wrote the original E-mail apparently has no concept of celestial mechanics.

Aaah, the internet. So full of trustworthy information. Or full of something, anyway.

"Hermanos! The Devil is building a robot! Andale!" -- Numero Cinco

AURAPTOR

Saturday, July 23, 2005 5:06 PM

Hey, I believe I already said 'DOH!'. That should suffice, no need to rub it in.

" They don't like it when you shoot at 'em. I worked that out myself. "

ROCKETJOCK

Saturday, July 23, 2005 5:08 PM

Sorry. I started writing my reply before you posted the "D'oh!" But I'm actually ragging on the original E-mail sender, not you. Ooops.

"Do you know what the definition of a hero is? It's somebody who gets somebody else killed." -- Zoë Warren

AURAPTOR

Saturday, July 23, 2005 5:26 PM

No worries. Usually I don't fall prey to such internet / e-mail tripe. Rest assured, I have replied to all on the list that this happened 2 yrs ago, and took the liberty of pointing out some of the obvious flaws in the e-mail. I should have been tipped off when I did a brief check @ Bad Astronomy . com that there was no mention of this on the main page. Face value... feh!

I deserve a double Doh!

" They don't like it when you shoot at 'em. I worked that out myself. "

GREEKTOOMEY

Saturday, July 23, 2005 5:59 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by AURaptor:
I deserve a double Doh!

Perhaps a Double Dose o' D'oh?