by Alice Enevoldsen - Planetarium Specialist
Mars As Bigs As The Moon? Still Not True
It's back, and it's more compelling than
ever this year. If you haven't seen the email saying Mars
will be as big as the Moon in August - you probably will
sometime soon. Don't feel bad if you get sucked in by it,
this email fools some very intelligent people. My best post
explaining what's wrong with the email is
→last year's, but here is a new summary.
- First off: Mars will NOT be as big as the Moon this August (or any August).
- Secondly: Wouldn't it be cool if it was? Well, it would look cool, but I'd be concerned about the gravitational effects on the Earth.
- Thirdly: Would you like something cool to look for this August instead? Something real? How about the Perseid Meteor Shower? It peaks on August 12, after midnight. Look Northeast. You can make as many wishes as you like on all those "shooting stars" - you could even wish for the Mars Hoax to come true, if you like.
- Lastly:
If you're bent on seeing
Mars, wait until December 2009, and you'll see it rising
in the East mid-evening. It will look like a bright-ish,
slightly-orange star.
- Mars is at opposition with Earth (as close as we get) every 26 months.
- This hoax has been
going around every August since 2003.
- In 2003 Mars was at opposition in August, and it WAS close, from an astronomical point of view. It wasn't actually all that exciting for the average viewer, but it looked cool through a telescope.
- In 2004 Mars was not at opposition.
- In 2005 Mars was at opposition in early November.
- In 2006 Mars was not at opposition.
- In 2007 Mars was at opposition in late December.
- In 2008 Mars was not at opposition.
- In 2009 Mars will not be at opposition (this one slips to January 2010).
- In 2010 Mars will be at
opposition in January.
This year the email is going around as a PowerPoint attachment, complete with all the PowerPoint bells and whistles you could ever wish to avoid.
Want More?
→My first post in 2007
→My more recent post in 2008
→BadAstronomy.com
→Snopes.com
→NASA
→Perseids
→SEDS
About AstroInfo
Pacific Science Center's Planetarium and Stage Science department has an ongoing commitment to lifelong learning and keeping our teachers up-to-date with current astronomical happenings and discoveries. The approximately-monthly column AstroInfo, written by Planetarium Specialist Alice Enevoldsen, is an attempt to answer common astronomical questions from the staff, and highlight interesting goings-on in the world of astronomy. If you have questions you would like addressed, please →email Alice.
AstroInfo is aimed at an audience of inquisitive adults, and we hope that everyone enjoys it. Previous editions of AstroInfo can be found at →alicesastroinfo.com. Be sure to subscribe to the RSS feed and follow Alice on →Twitter.
About Alice Enevoldsen
Alice Enevoldsen has been working in planetariums since 1996, has a B.A. in Astronomy-Geology from Whitman College, and a Masters in Teaching from Seattle University. Her fascination with the stars led her to try her hand at astronomy research in Boston and Walla Walla, where she realized that her calling in life was actually to work in museums and be a translator for scientists. Now she works hard to show people who think science is confusing or hard why chemists, physicists, and biologists get so worked up - science is everywhere, and life's boring without discovery!