is it a hoax that mars will be closest to the earth on August 27th 2006?

Answer 1

Yes it is a hoax, Mars is currently on the far side of the sun from us and at least 220,000,000 (220 million) miles away,

So the story couldn't be much further from the truth and Mars could not be much further from the earth.

Let me deal with the "Let's wait and see if it's true on the 27th" position advanced by Animal Cop, first. I am going to have to be blunt,

Those who say "Let's wait and see if its true on August 27th" and hope against hope that it will be a wish come true, are deluding themselves, Mankind has been calculating and predicting planetary orbits and positions with increasing precision for 2000 years now, Kepler's 3 Laws of Planetary Motion have been known for 400 years,

So you don't need to wait till 27th August! The answer is known now. And there is no "well, it might be true" uncertainty about it. You can look it up on the NASA and other reputable websites. Taking refuge in "well, it might be true" is really just a way of refusing to admit and acknowledge and accept that you (and thousands of others) have been duped,

If you still believe it "could" still come true, then what you are saying is that Mars will somehow manage to beetle back around half its orbit in six days, i.e. traverse a semi-circular arc, measuring some 443,950,000 miles, a journey that normally takes Mars 50 weeks to complete! And its maximum orbital velocity is known to be a mere 59,277 mph. Even at maximum speed all the time (which would conflict with Kepler's Laws) that would still take Mars 44.58 weeks! (Time = distance divided by speed.) So it isn't going to accomplish it in six days, is it?

And the notion of "I will keep a look out for it on the 27th" is a foolish one. It won't be there,

Let me turn to disentangling truth fron garbled reportage,

Mars won't be visible again till December 2006 and the next close approach is not until 24th December 2007,

The hoax e-mail that is circulating is a garbled version of what WAS true on August 27th 2003. When a close approach of 34,500,000 miles DID take place. And it WAS the closest Mars has been for 60,000 years, Because Mars was at its perihelion (nearest to the sun) within 3 days of when it was at its nearest to the Earth. That is what was so rare about it,

The e-mail going around suggests that the close approach of Mars and Earth of 27 August 2003 (see the CNN News story below) will occur THIS 27th August, 2006. It won't! It has already happened, Been and gone.You missed it, Sorry to disappoint anyone but the date you should be writing in your diary is December 2007.

Such close approaches occur once every 26 months, The Martian Year is 1.88 Earth Years so when we have done 2 and a bit orbits Mars has done 1 and a bit orbits and we are close together again.

Therefore, after an August 2003 Close Encounter, the next one was in October 2005 and the next Close Encounter after that is not until December 2007,

There is no close approach this year.

Central to the hoax going around is the Baron Von Munchausen attention-grabbing fairy story that Mars will look as big as our Moon. Unlikely and untrue,

Which would you rather believe: an anonymous, unsolicited e-mail or the official NASA website?

I went to NASA's Kids Website which told me:

"View in 2006
Mars begins the year as a moderately bright orange star in the constellation Aries. It will grow fainter through the end of summer, when it will disappear in the Sun's glare. Mars will re-emerge in the morning sky in late December. In March, it will pass quite close to Aldebaran, the star that marks the “eye” of Taurus, the bull. Mars and Aldebaran will look like twins, with near-identical color and brightness."

You don't need to be a genius to work out that if it is getting fainter it is getting further away, and if it is disappearing into the sun's glare that can only be because it is on the far side of the sun from us i.e. Mars' position in its orbit is 180 degrees away from our position in our orbit and we are pretty well the maximum possible distance apart in August 2006.

If you know (and you can easily look this up) that the Martian Year is 1.88 Earth Years then again you don't have to be a genius to work out that the one time it WON'T be near to us is an exact number of twelvemonths since the last-but-one time it was close to us on 27th August 2003, We will be in roughly the same place as we were 3 years ago, but Mars will only have done approx 1,6 orbits (1.5957 in fact) around the sun in that time, which explains why it is now on the far side of the sun and at about the farthest distance away it gets,

The fantastical idea that Mars could possibly look the same size as the Moon can easily be refuted. At its closest approach it is 35 million miles away, whereas the Moon averages 238,000 miles away i.e. the distances are in ratio >140:1.

The diameters are in ratio 2:1 however (Mars has a diameter of 6780 kms and the Moon of 3474 kms)

So, think about it: how can the number of arc seconds that Mars' disc presents to the naked eye possibly be the same as the number of arc seconds that the Moon's disc presents? Mars would have to be only twice as far away as the Moon, i.e. less than half a million miles away, for that to happen.

and

(a) that never happens

(b) If it did happen, you'd soon know about it as giant tidal waves caused by Mars' gravity would sweep the Earth, making the Tsunamai look like a Sunday School picnic.

So not only can you look it up on reputable websites to discover this is nonsense, you can also work it out for yourself that it must be nonsense.

Much closer to the truth is that next March Mars will look about the same size and brightness as Aldebaran, in Taurus, the 13th brightest star in the sky, And they are both red. They will be a matched pair, but Mars and the Moon will never be one.

HERE IS THE STORY CNN CARRIED IN 2003

Earthlings revel in Mars close-up
Planetary approach is nearest in 60,000 years
By Richard Stenger
and Jeordan Legon
CNN
Thursday, August 28, 2003

The last time the red planet was this close to Earth 60,000 years ago, man lived in caves.

No wonder when Mars and Earth synchronized their orbits a few minutes before 6 a.m. EDT Wednesday -- bringing them closer to each other than at any time in recorded history -- thousands of people around the globe went outside to take a peek.

"Knowing that this is once in a lifetime that I can see another planet with the naked eye, yeah, it's great," said Rebecca Horton, a stargazer from Sydney, Australia.

Astronomers say Mars, five times closer now than six months ago, is about 34.6 million miles away, making it the brightest nighttime object except the moon.

"It is possible to get some fairly close encounters every few years," said amateur astronomer Paul Shallow. "It does come around, but not this close."

But with the far-away planet getting so close, some hopeful watchers felt gypped by Mother Nature.

In Oakland, California, where hundreds of space fans paid $11 to attend the Chabot Space & Science Center's "Mars Mania Costume Party," clouds rolled in along with night sky Tuesday. Mars was fogged out, and there were no refunds.

But the good news is that Mars will remain a stunning nighttime attraction for weeks. Most sky watchers can see the planet, presently in the constellation Aquarius, in the southeastern sky soon after sunset, high overhead during the midnight hours and in the southwestern sky before sunrise.

Backyard telescopes may coax features out of the reddish, orange blur, including dark, mottled streaks, which inspired scientists of past centuries to envision intricate canals and advanced Martian civilizations.

The rare configuration of 2003 has stoked renewed, albeit not as fanciful, interest in Mars, which on average cruises 50 million miles farther from the sun than Earth does.

About every 26 months, the two planets pass relatively close to one another, during periods now known as opposition.

What makes this one noteworthy is that Mars, which follows an extremely elliptical or egg-shaped path, is currently at it closest point to the sun during its orbit.

Those two conditions, along with a few obscure celestial variables, have produced an astronomical chance of a lifetime, or several lifetimes actually.

Mars won't pass closer to Earth until 2287, according to astronomers.

Besides awing the curious, the alignment has motivated numerous governments to dispatch missions to the red planet.

Taking advantage of the shorter trip distance, two U.S. and two European probes set off earlier this year, all to arrive at the end of the year.

"Mars fever has caught, not only for amateur astronomers, who are getting their best look at the planet ever and that we'll ever have in our life, but also for professionals, as you know, with the [NASA] Mars Rovers and other spacecraft that are en route," said David Eicher, editor of Astronomy magazine."

Answer 2

I heard about the Mars hoax and the answer is no . I'll tell you the real scoop on it . In 2003 it was in fact true ! Mars was the closest it's ever been on August 27 2003 .
The next year a New York Observatory reprinted the story again on the August 27th date for a joke . local news and it came on and they said " The latest Mars craze is going on again this year , It was said to be started again by a new york observatory as a joke and well it's been listed as spam. And it currently is circulating the internet as a forward . We spoke to our local astronomers to get the story and they showed us where Mars is . Under the horizon till next year. t's completely not true this year , It did actually happen last in 2003 as we all know but this time it's a joke. an April fools joke . No madness intended . " So it's been floating around for 2 years . Actually there is alot of it going around, crazy emails floating areound of it , observatory phones ringing off the hook .
It has turned into one big hoax . For further reading put in Mars Hoax into google & google news .
Next year the Mars Hoax will float again I bet !

Answer 3

Watch the Sky!

Never again in your lifetime will the Red Planet be so spectacular! This month and next month the Earth is catching up with Mars, an encounter that will culminate in the closest approach between the two planets in recorded history. The next time Mars may come this close is in 2287. Due to the way Jupiter's gravity tugs on Mars and perturbs its orbit, astronomers can only be certain that Mars has not come this close to Earth in the last 5,000 years but it may be as long as 60,000 years.

The encounter will culminate on August 27th when Mars comes to within 34,649,589 miles and will be (next to the moon) the brightest object in the night sky. It will attain a magnitude of -2.9 and will appear 25.11 arc seconds wide. At a modest 75-power magnification Mars will look as large as the full moon to the naked eye. Mars will be easy to spot.

At the beginning of August, Mars will rise in the east at 10 p.m. and reach its azimuth at about 3 a.m. By the end of August when the two planets are closest, Mars will rise at nightfall and reach its highest point in the sky at 12:30 a.m. That's pretty convenient when it comes to seeing something that no human has seen in recorded history. So mark your calendar at the beginning of August to see Mars grows progressively brighter and brighter throughout the month. Share with your children and grandchildren. No one alive today will ever see this again.



Comments: Mostly true -- in 2003, that is, when this message was first composed and circulated online. It was not true when the identical text circulated again in 2005, however, nor when it reappeared in 2006. The event has come and gone.

On August 27, 2003, the orbital paths of Earth and Mars brought them to within 34.65 million miles of one another -- closer than at any other time in the past 50,000 years. Though Mars never actually appeared "as large as the full moon to the naked eye," the red planet did vividly dominate the night sky for a time, making 2003's "close encounter" a "once in a lifetime" event indeed for astronomers, space enthusiasts, and ordinary observers alike.

Nothing so spectacular is predicted for 2006.

Answer 4

THIS IS A HOAX LETTER:

No one alive today will ever see this again. Never again in your lifetime will the Red Planet be so spectacular.

This month and next, Earth is catching up with Mars, an encounter that will culminate in the closest approach between the two planets in recorded history. The next time Mars may come this close is in 2287.


Due to the way Jupiter's gravity tugs on Mars and perturbs its orbit,astronomers can only be certain that Mars has not come this close to Earth in the last 5,000 years...... but it may be as long as 60,000 years.

The encounter will culminate on August 27th when Mars comes to within 34,649,589 miles and will be (next to the moon) the brightest object in the night sky. It will attain a magnitude of -2.9 and will appear 25.11 arc second wide. At a modest 75-power magnification Mars will look as large as the full moon to the naked eye. Mars will be easy to spot. At the beginning of August Mars will rise in the east at 10 p.m. and reach its azimuth at about 3 a.m.

But by the end of August when the two planets are closest, Mars will rise at nightfall and reach its highest point in the sky at 12:30 a.m. That's pretty convenient when it comes to seeing something that no human has seen in recorded history.

So mark your calendar at the beginning of August to see Mars grow progressively brighter and brighter throughout the month. Share with your children and grandchildren. No one alive today will ever see this again.

Answer 5

Yes it is a hoax. This event happened in August 2003. Mars is currently on the far side of the Sun.

Answer 6

Has anyone else noticed that when BruceBirchall wades in with his long and detailed refutation of the Mars hoax silliness, you don't then hear another bleat from the "I think it is so cool" and the "I am so excited" brigade?

I can only assume they must recognise an authoritative source when they see one. Pity they don't go and consult one before answering questions, isn't it?

I never cease to be amazed how gullible some people can be. And how willing to spread disinformation without first checking if it's true!

Answer 7

no, it is a fact. Our orbits are NOT perfect circles as some believe, we wobble through space. Mars IS going to be close, which MAY also explain why Mars is warming up. It's not enough to describe the 2003 apparition of Mars as unique. In late August, as if beckoning us to touch its enchanting, exotic shores, the red planet will reach magnitude –2.9 and will dominate the southern sky with its fiery coloration. Finally, on the night of August 26–27, Mars will be closer to Earth — if by only a little — than at any time in some 60,000 years Mars becomes almost this large every 15 or 17 years — whenever it passes closest to Earth (near opposition) within a few weeks of the date it is also nearest the Sun (perihelion). For example, in August 1971 the disk became as large as 24.9", and in September 1988 it reached 23.8". Less-ideal views come at intervals of about 2 years 2 months, as in May 1999 when it reached 16.2", and in June 2001 when it attained 20.8". Putting August 2003 in perspective, this is one of five chances (at most) in your entire lifetime that you'll see Mars so clearly.



Mmmmm, Martian Warming and it MUST be because we have the Martian landrover there..............

Answer 8

It's a hoax. It happened last year to. The Mars Hoax.

Go to this website it'll tell you everything about it.
http://www.floridastars.org/marshoax.2006.html

Answer 9

Yes...The next "close encounter with the planet Mars is around December 20, 2007 at 88 million kilometers. The last "close encounter" with Mars was around October 30, 2005 at 69 million kilometers

Answer 10

It actually happened 27 August 2003.

Answer 11

Hoax:
http://www.snopes.com/science/mars.asp