mars will be our night time guiding light...

[mamasaid]

we have a dark burn this year, but there will be another planet looming in the sky that supposedly be as big as a full moon to the naked eye...how rad and coincedental is that...??? I wonder how the energy of Mars will affect our experience on the playa!!!???

Any thoughts? read on...
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 10p.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 12:30a.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.

Share this with your children and grandchildren.
 
NO ONE ALIVE TODAY WILL EVER SEE THIS AGAIN 
 

[robotland]

http://eplaya.burningman.org/viewtopic.php?t=8820


Not THIS again!

Don't skip the light on your bike, expecting Mars to pick up the slack....It ain' happenin'.

[robotland]

http://eplaya.burningman.org/viewtopic.php?t=8906

And here's some better data.

[ZaphodBurner]

It's not an urban legend. Larry Harvey actually arranged it with NASA. Thanks to his generous campaign donation the the RNC, by the way, Bush has promised to declare war on Mars if it doesn't comply. Protestors are already making signs that say "No Blood for Dry Ice."

BM LLC is already negotiating a contract with Gawd Amighty for 2006-2007, in which the entire Andromeda galaxy will actually pass THROUGH our solar system (single file, or course. Let's be reasonable) during the burn for it's closest pass in Four Hundred Twenty Bazillion years, or the Big Bang, whichever came first.

This of course explains the astronomical rise in ticket prices.

-c
ZaphodBurns
http://www.zaphodburns2005.org

[missmann]

apparently its only going to be the size of a tennis ball from the distance of five football fields... not really all that close.
and apparently mars was closer a couple years ago.
i'm bringing flashlights.

[Stilesfamily]

I herd that due to the proximity of Mars to the playa the gravitational forces in BRC will be reduced by more than 90 percent allowing burners to leap from one side of the playa to the other in one tremendous bound. There will be lots of great aerial photos of the City this year.

[mamasaid]

YES YES YES...
OH GOD, I CAN'T WAIT.
I KNEW, I JUST KNEW THERE WERE MAGICAL FORCES OUT THERE...

so funny!

M
I was going to bring my moon boots for all this floating around, but now, maybe I'll need my MARS boots. anyone know where I might find some??? surely I can find SOMETHING in san francisco???