Shall I dispel the Mars close approach myth again?

Question

Just so people don’t go wasting their time going out to look for something that aint going to be there:

The Mars close approach thing going round is a hangover from August 27 2003, when the closest approach actually happened. The misinformation going round is due to old articles hanging around on cyberspace that have been found but not studied well by kids surfing.

One particular is still there – do a Google search on MARS CLOSE APPROACH. It brings up at the top of the list an article put out by the BBC three years ago. The trouble is, it does not show the date in the title information, and even when you go to the page it is easy to miss the small-font date at the top of the page.

Kids have found this and in their hurried read of it have assumed it is talking about Aug 27 this year, and spread from friend ot friend to friend. One of the last queries we had on this was from Peurto Rico for heavens sake.

In the process of being spread around the internet community (mostly people totally ignorant of the Solar System) the information has become more and more muddled, such that people think they are going to see two “moons” this Aug 27. Just a tiny knowledge of the layout of the planets would have told these people how ridiculous that is.

Answer 1

In the next couple of days I will be requesting "observation reports" by all those who have been promoting this hoax and who are even making plans to take the time to go out and look as they apparently never felt that the night sky was worth going out to look at prior to this "once in a lifetime" event.

Question is, are people's memory SO bad that the very same folks are going to fall for the hoax next year?

Answer 2

Mars is set till next April .

It's a hoax..
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 . It was hown in the states on the local news 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

Nick - I feel your pain, I really do. But I think you just wasted 5 points and 2 minutes of your time by posting this. Apparently noone ever reads the existing questions before posting their own. But I thank you for making the effort, and for writing lucid explanations. Hopefully some people will learn a little bit about astronomy (and critical thinking) through all of this!

And the next question asked in this category is....... Oy!

Answer 4

I'll bet for the next 20 years that blasted Mars question will be asked 150 times a week leading up to every August.

Can't someone come up with a new original hoax? That one is getting on my nerves! A big, fat, juicy, red Martian pox on whoever started it.

LOL

Answer 5

Neither of my canine are vast lickers. at situations definite i understand they lick using fact of nutrition residue on my arms, yet that isn't many times. whilst they do lick, it particularly is basically a demonstration of love. If it became the flavor they have been after, they might lick longer, no longer in elementary terms the few little 'kisses' they provide.

Answer 6

i wish people would read your question, because the question of mars being close to earth is just getting on my nerves. I don't know how people think that mars would appear as big as the moon when it is so far from the earth. Thanks for putting the correct info out there.

Answer 7

Thanks for clearing that up... i thought i was getting deja-vu again from the last 2 years of hype about this thing.

Answer 8

Then again, we are reading this from someone who actually said "aint", instead of isn't.

Answer 9

Thank you, friend.