Mars

[Plane]

CLOSE ENCOUNTER: Ready your telescopes! Tonight, Dec. 18th, Mars makes its closest approach to Earth until the year 2016. At a distance of only 55 million miles, Mars outshines every star in the night sky (it is slightly brighter than Sirius) and draws attention to itself with its distinctive red color. Plus, it looks great through a backyard telescope; this morning in Nicholasville, Kentucky, amateur astronomer Rick Schrantz took this picture through his 10-inch reflector:

http://www.spaceweather.com/

[Plane]

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/22350742/


Mars could be in for an asteroid hit.

A newly discovered hunk of space rock has a 1-in-75 chance of slamming into the Red Planet on Jan. 30, scientists said Thursday.

"These odds are extremely unusual. We frequently work with really long odds when we track ... threatening asteroids," said Steve Chesley, an astronomer with the Near Earth Object Program at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory.

[Richpo64]

>>Mars could be in for an asteroid hit.<<

Another dastardly plot by VP Cheney to draw attention away from his evil schemes.

[Brassmask]

Nah, he was too busy burning his office down to hide all his lies.

[Richpo64]

>>Nah, he was too busy burning his office down to hide all his lies.<<

Yeah, that's the ticket .... 

[Plane]

http://www.spaceweather.com/


CAVEAT IMPACTOR: There are widespread reports today of an Tunguska-sized asteroid on a collision course with Mars, The odds are 1 in 75 that 2007 WD5 will hit the Red Planet in late January. While this would be exciting to observe, it probably won't happen. The asteroid was discovered in late November and has been tracked for barely a month. This means its orbit is not well determined. As more observations in the weeks ahead refine the asteroid's path, the chances of a Mars collision will almost certainly evaporate. Of course, sometimes the unlikely does happen. Stay tuned for updates.



http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tunguska_event