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www.southgatearc.org
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Close Encounter with MarsSpace Weather News for Dec. 17. 2007 CLOSE ENCOUNTER WITH MARS: Have you noticed an intense red star rising in the east in recent evenings? That's no star, that's Mars. The red planet is having a close encounter with Earth this week. At closest approach on Tuesday evening, Dec. 18th, the two worlds will lie only 55 million miles apart. Mars won't be this nearby again until the year 2016. To the naked eye, Mars now outshines every star in the night sky (it
is slightly brighter than Sirius) and it looks great through a backyard
telescope. NOTE: While, technically speaking, Mars is at its best and brightest
only on Dec. 18th, the red planet will remain unusually close and beautiful
for weeks to come. This makes it a Merry Martian Christmas for anyone
who finds a telescope under their tree on Dec. 25th: http://spaceweather.com/ccount.php GREAT GEMINIDS: The Geminid meteor shower peaked on Dec. 14th and 15th;
as predicted, it was a great show. Some observers counted more than a
hundred meteors per hour including fireballs that cast shadows like a
full moon and gave off ghostly-sounding radio echoes. It's all chronicled
in our Geminid Gallery: http://spaceweather.com/meteors/
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