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[Chicago Astronomer - Astro Joe]

Don't Get Snookered by Internet Mars Malarkey

August 2006 -

I been getting inquiries about Mars once again coming closer to Earth and that it will appear as big as the full Moon. I don't know what idiot first wrote this account, but Mars will not be of any significance any time soon.

If Mars EVER got as big as the full Moon, there would be something seriously wrong with our solar system. Read the following for more insight on this bogus story...

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If no one has asked you about it yet, they probably will. A bogus e-mail chain letter, sometimes titled "Mars Spectacular," has been circulating around the Internet, as it did two years ago. It claims that on August 27th the planet Mars will dazzle the world, appearing brighter than ever in history and "as large as the full Moon to the naked eye."

The problem is that "August 27th" is actually August 27, 2003. Mars did make a historically close pass by Earth at that time. In August 2006, though, the Red Planet is invisible, hidden behind the glare of the Sun. And, of course, to the naked eye Mars will always looks like a bright star, not the full Moon.

As they orbit the Sun, the Earth and Mars make a close approach every 2-1/4 years or so. This time is called "opposition," because from our perspective on Earth, Mars then appears opposite the Sun in the sky. On average the two planets come within 48 million miles of each other. But because their orbits are elliptical (oval) rather than perfectly circular, the minimum separation between the two planets varies from one opposition to the next.

In late August 2003 Mars came within 35 million miles of Earth, and in late October and early November 2005 it came within 43 million miles. Mars's next opposition will come in December 2007, when it will be farther still, 55 million miles from Earth. For reference, the Moon orbits the Earth at an average distance of about 240,000 miles, and the average Earth–Sun distance is about 93 million miles.

"The Mars chain letter gets revived every August," says Alan MacRobert, a senior editor of Sky & Telescope. "I see it as a good thing, not a bad thing. It's an immunization. If you make a fool of yourself by sending it to your friends and family, you'll be less likely to send them the next e-mail chain letter you get, which may not be so harmless."

Source: www.spaceref.com/news/viewpr.nl.html?pid=20580

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SO...NO MARS EVENT ANY TIME SOON! #rant# Pass it on.

I remember the incredible long lines at my scope when the Mars Maddness close approach event occured in 2003. With a filter, mid-powered eyepiece and a smile - many felt my modest scope displayed a better view than even much larger apeture scopes there!

[katodog]

Damn it!!!

Then what the hell did I blow $1200 on a new scope for???

That does it, back it goes!!

[Centaur]

Some are referring to the Mars article as bogus or a hoax. It's probably more a misunderstanding that has been amplified by the internet grapevine. The original article was fairly accurate in describing an event that would occur later in 2003. Although in some incarnations the truth became badly distorted, such as neglecting to mention that one needed to look through a telescope for Mars to appear as large as a naked-eye Full Moon.

Remember the children’s telephone game in which each person in a ring transmits a short story to his neighbor resulting in it becoming totally distorted? That’s what often happens with e-mailed messages such as the one regarding the 2003 close perihelic opposition of Mars. They frequently get edited before retransmission. This can result in significant errors.

Unfortunately, the original message did not mention the year to which it pertained, so others discovering it later assumed it must be referring to the current year and continued forwarding it to others. So every August since 2003 we’ve seen this same story get re-circulated.

Sadly, this situation highlights the astronomical ignorance of the general public that should have learned of the actual event when it occurred in 2003. And anyone who believed the versions stating that Mars would appear as large in the sky as the Moon, must have missed key lessons at school.

In the present case it needs to be asked whether the deletion of a key phrase was simply carelessness, or due to the intervention of some jokester? One conjecture I’ve seen is that the re-circulation and distortion may have originated with a publicist for last year’s War of the Worlds movie. So there is a possibility that the term hoax may be somewhat appropriate.

The primary lesson to be learned is that many articles on the internet, especially those passed along by friends, need to be viewed skeptically until verified by credible sources. A secondary lesson is that when you are the original author of an article, include the year of publication and the year for the described events.