This weeks commentary - question

[lekiotr]

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Mars is visible up there every August? Now, that would be news! The lame appeal to "cycles," that notion so popular with occultists and second only to "vibrations" — neither of which they understand — and the inclusion of "nature" for validity, show the reporters attempts to dress up his venture into pseudoscience. Again, where was an editor, so obviously needed here….?


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Can anyone explain more to me how the appeal to cycles are lame, and how those occultists that believe in those cylces do not understand them, or in what way. I have heard this explanation numerous times and am curious about the skeptical take on this issue. Of course appealing to the cycles comes very chort of fact, per se. But how exactly are they not understood, and how exactly are they lame?

 

[arcticpenguin]

This particular appeal to cycles is incredibly lame because they got their facts wrong. Earth makes one orbit around the sun in ~ 365 days, but Mars completes one orbital period in ~ 687 earth days, so the close approach of the two planets will not occur on a 12 month cycle. If that moron doesn't have a clue when Mars is at close approach, why should we believe anything he has to say about what effects this imaginary approach has on planet Earth or its occupants?

"Vibrations" is a term which is appropriated to mean many things which have nothing to do with mechanical oscillation.

As for cycles, it would be up to the claimant to show that the close approach of any planet, or conjunction of planets, has any effect on earthly life. There is no point in wondering how it works if it is not established that it does work.

 

[Soapy Sam]

Be fair now. It is "up there" every August.

It may not be visible, but Occam's razor says it's probably still there.

 

[arcticpenguin]

Be fair now. It is "up there" every August.

It may not be visible, but Occam's razor says it's probably still there.

For some definition of "up", yes. Highly visible in the same part of the sky, no.

 

[davidhorman]

I can't find it, but I'm sure someone posted a list of the next few times Mars will be at it's closest, and they were all in August

David

 

[arcticpenguin]

I can't find it, but I'm sure someone posted a list of the next few times Mars will be at it's closest, and they were all in August

David

Do find your link. I think you will find that those dates are many many years apart. The orbits of Earth and mars are not circular, they are somewhat elliptical. Therefore the closest approaches will be when Earth is at its outermost and/or Mars is at its innermost, so these occasions will happen in the same location in our orbit, i.e. the same time of the year. But they certainly will not happen every August.

http://www.cs.bsu.edu/homepages/dathomas/SpaceGrant/part1.htm

 

[Soapy Sam]

On Mars, "August" is the time when Earth is closest in the sky,
or "Down there" as they say on Mars.*


* It loses something in the translation.

 

[Blondin]

Oh, boy! Finally something I actually know something about.

Mars comes into oppostion with Earth every 26 months. Opposition is what we call it when Mars and the Sun are on opposite sides of the Earth. The next opposition will be in November, 2005.

As ArcticPenguin mentioned, the orbits of the planets are not circular so each opposition occurs when Mars and Earth are at different distances from the Sun and each other. This particular opposition was notable because Mars is at the point in its orbit where it is (almost) as close as it ever gets to the Sun and Earth is at the point in its orbit where it is about as far as it ever gets from the Sun.

 

[ceptimus]

Mars comes particularly close every 15 to 17 years. Last month's close approach is only a tiny fraction closer than any one of these normal 15 to 17 year events.