Mars Swings Unusually Close to Earth

amazon10x writes "Mars will come unusually close to the Earth on Saturday; the second time in 60,000 years. The last occurrence was in 2003. 'This is the best we're going to see Mars, so we should strike the iron while it is hot,' said Kelly Beatty, executive editor of Sky & Telescope magazine. The Red Planet will be 43.1 million miles from Earth at 11:25pm [Eastern time]." Update by J : Starting a few hours after sunset, look fairly high in the eastern sky.

Unusual?

[ReformedExCon]

Usually, when you use the word "unusual", it implies a sort of unexpectedness of the event. If there was an unusual swing of Mars towards Earth, I don't think it would be minor news.

once per 60'000?

[Janek Kozicki]

second time in 60,000 years. The last occurrence was in 2003.

So the event that happens once per 60,000 years - happens now a SECOND time, just after two years?

No (the summary is of course poorly written), in 2003 it was 35 million miles (56 000 000 km), and then it was an event once per 60,000 years. Now it is 43.1 million miles (69 000 000 km) and it is an event once per .... oops I don't know. But it happens more often ;)

Re:again?

[utnow]

So it came unusually close in 2003... and now again in 2005... and they're expecting it again in 2018?

And so it's happening 3 times in 15 years... but we're going to blow that up to say "3 times in 60,000 years!!!"

Honestly... the New Orleans Saints win playoff games more rarely than this occurs. Which brings be back to my original comment: Seems like every few years we hear that Mars is WHOA! close to the earth. Other than it's significance to NASA's mars mission and palmists, all this means to john-everyman is that the red dot in the sky is a little brighter.

Re:Time zone?

[pv2b]

No true geek would use anything but UTC, wherever you are.

No.

A true geek would know all the different ways employed to measure time, included, but not limited to, the various different variations of Universal Time, Atomic Time, Solar Time, Sidereal Time, Ephermis Time and Terrestrial Time, not to mention time according to the day/night cycle of an extra-terrestrial body. He would also be able to tell you in minute detail the differences between GMT and UTC.

Time zones are easy, they're all just simple offsets from UTC.

Me, I just fall asleep when I'm tired, and wake up when I do, and try to be awake when it matters.

Re:Time Zone

[TapeCutter]

"GMT was a bit to Ye-Olde-British-Empire for most people."

The "G" in GMT stands for Greenwich, a town in England that houses the royal observatory. The French disputed the position of the GMT line for a couple of hundred years. They said it was ~1km to the left, they even went to the trouble of marking it on the countryside with a line of poles. Given the history of the two countries it's remarkable they settled the matter without going to war.

Re:For those who aren't in the 19th century anymor

[jschrod]

Well, neither 3:25pm nor 15:25, but 03:25 UTC.

I.e., a good thing for some chill-out at our party tomorrow. :-)