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See Planet Mars as Large as a Full Moon with the Naked Eye on August 27th  
COOL 

Tags: Mars, planet, August, 27, day, night, see, view, Moon, two, insane, large, crazy, earth, close, orbit

(Here is the highly viral email that gets forwarded every August) 27th of August is the day the Whole World is waiting for... Planet Mars will be the brightest in the night sky starting August. It will look as large as the full moon to the naked eye. This will cultivate on Aug. 27 when Mars comes within 34.65M miles of earth. Be sure to watch the sky on Aug. 27 12:30 am. It will look like the earth has 2 moons. The next time Mars may come this close is in 2287. ***Share this with your friends as NO ONE ALIVE TODAY will ever see it again.***

	The Red Planet is about to be spectacular!
	This month and next, Earth is catching up with Mars in 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 before it happens again.
	The encounter will culminate on August 27th when Mars comes to within 34,649,589 miles of Earth 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 it 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 to see something that no human being has seen in recorded history.
	So, mark your calendar at the beginning of August to see Mars grow progressively brighter and brighter throughout the month.

Lister: Pratt
Source: Snopes - Mars

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Comments: I'm always missing these once-in-a-lifetime celestial events. Comment by: buccicone.2