Is this for real or what????

Watch the Sky!

Never again in your lifetime will the Red Planet be so spectacular! This month and next month the Earth is catching up with Mars, an encounter that will culminate in the closest approach between the two planets in recorded history. The next time Mars may come this close is in 2287. Due to the way Jupiter's gravity tugs on Mars and perturbs its orbit, astronomers can only be certain that Mars has not come this close to Earth in the last 5,000 years but it may be as long as 60,000 years.

The encounter will culminate on August 27th when Mars comes to within 34,649,589 miles and will be (next to the moon) the brightest object in the night sky. It will attain a magnitude of -2.9 and will appear 25.11 arc seconds wide. At a modest 75-power magnification Mars will look as large as the full moon to the naked eye. Mars will be easy to spot.

At the beginning of August, Mars will rise in the east at 10 p.m. and reach its azimuth at about 3 a.m. By the end of August when the two planets are closest, Mars will rise at nightfall and reach its highest point in the sky at 12:30 a.m. That's pretty convenient when it comes to seeing something that no human has seen in recorded history. So mark your calendar at the beginning of August to see Mars grows progressively brighter and brighter throughout the month. Share with your children and grandchildren. No one alive today will ever see this again.

[ Edited on 26-8-2007 by rose ]

Emmauel Velikovski would be pleased.

this is a hoax, somebody kicks it off every August

http://www.abc.net.au/science/news/stories/s1709499.htm 

yeah i think it happened about 4 or 5 years ago

That's right I remember not seeing it in a previous life.

I checked this on Google. It seems that it occured in August 2003 and is a regular event every 17 years.

I had a feeling it was going to be a hoax but still got up to double check.

Lunar eclipse, bit different than mars popping up in the sky, just the earth inbetween the sun and moon in perfect alignment, happes every 7 years

yeah 4 get mars have a look att he moon right now its about half way acrosss or eclipsed looks great

Yeah its almost covered now.
A friend and i were taken by the hoax... checking the sky every hour or so last night

they try to say it's mars coz at maximum eclipse the moon will go blood red, awesome sight, keep your eyes to the skies, unless you're driving! We're expecting maximum psych admissions at work tonight coz the full moon itself causes people to go off, a lunar eclipse is even worse!

Hi Lee
Bloody hoax emails.
Are you going to Broke on the 9th?
We are going hope to see you there.
Rose