2 moons in France?

Question

im looking for detaails about the 2 moon situation that is making news globally. i know its taking place on august 27, but what time is it for people in france (specifically la rochelle)? im dying to know. thx!

Answer 1

When Mars is at opposition it is visible all night long (so no particular time of night would need to be specified for viewing) but unfortunately it won't be at opposition on August 27th. That doesn't happen until December 2007.

It isn't news that is being made globally, it is rumour and unsubstantiated assertions masquerading as facts. Because this is a hoax.

Mars will not look as bright as and the same size as the Moon. It never has, it never does and the hoax relies on people not being sufficiently au fait with astronomy to know that it never could look as bright as and the same size as the Moon.

Mars will look about the same size and brightness as ALDEBARAN, the bright red giant that is the eye of the bull and the brightest star in Taurus on 27/08/2007 and Mars will be very close to Aldebaran in the sky at the time, as it is in Taurus at the moment. (Find the Pleiades and you are getting warm ...)

So it will look like Taurus the bull has two red, bloodshot eyes! I hope that that compensates you for the disappointment you are bound to feel at being hoaxed by this e-mail which circulates every summer. Loads of people must get them because Yahoo! Answers gets loads of questions on this subject.

Once upon a time a long time ago (about 60,000 BC) there was a close approach of Mars to Earth of about 34.5 million miles..

Mars did not come that close to Earth again until 27th August 2003. That was worth remarking upon as a memorable occasion and received publicity. These occasions are called perihelic oppositions.

Mars (magnitude -2.9) was marginally brighter than Jupiter (magnitude -2.8) on that date in 2003. However Venus which is both larger than Mars and nearer than Mars is (as you might expect) always brighter than Mars and varies between magnitude -3.8 and - 4.6.

So the statement in the e-mail that Mars is about to become the brightest planet in the night sky is untrue.

The hoaxers do not know much about astronomy. They just sensationalise and distort the limited facts they have managed to pick up without properly understanding them or their implications.

As Venus has never been seen as large as the Moon and Venus is always brighter than Mars, it follows that Mars will not be seen to be as large as the Moon not on 27th August nor at any other time.

The naive belief that it "could be" that large this time just reveals the hoaxers' lack of understanding of how the Sun's gravity keeps the planets in stable orbits, which means the extent to which they vary in their positions is calculable and predictable.

Humanity has been studying and predicting the planets and their orbits for 4,000 years and writing their findings up in almanacs and suddenly someone comes along and declares "an unexpected dramatic change in a stable orbit is about to occur", wlthout explaining why that should be so. And expects to be believed!?

So the hoaxers do not understand that planetary orbits have been observed and carefully calculated and predicted for 4,000 years.

The hoaxers however seem to be suggesting that planets behave unpredictably and chaotically without any pattern or sense to that behaviour, and further, that they the hoaxers, like the Delphic Oracle of old, have unique divination powers and are passing on their knowledge, to which they alone are privy, to lucky old you.

Whereas all they are in fact passing on is misinformation based on their ignorance.

Mars, even at its nearest in 2003, was 140 times as far away as the Moon, and it is only twice its size (Equatorial radius of Mars = 3,402.5 km. Equatorial radius of the Moon = 1,738.14 km.).

So how could an object that is twice the size of the Moon but at least 140 times as far away (more like 220 times as far away in December 2007 when it will be 55 million miles away) ever look as big as the Moon? Does a tomato 140 yards away look as big as a cherry held at arm's length?

The only way Mars could ever appear as large as the Moon is if it were to get as close as half a million miles away,

If it did do that, it would be a disaster, causing huge tidal waves on Earth and tsunamai such as we have not seen the like of before. It would not be a thing to gawp at, and say "Oh wow! Awesome!" and tell all your friends to look out for it at 12.30 am !

But of course it won't do that (come within half a million miles of Earth) as Mars has a stable orbit.

The hoaxers have sent out the same e-mail every summer as regards 27 August 2004, 27 August 2005, 27 August 2006 and now 27 August 2007. Again revealing their ignorance of how the Solar System works. Mars has a year that equals 1.88 Earth years and as a result only comes close to us once every 26 months: on 27th August 2003, and then not again until 30th October 2005 and then not again until 18th December 2007.

The idea of it having a close approach on the same date every year is nonsense therefore, it is not like a wedding anniversary or a birthday or Mothers' Day, As the hoaxers seem to believe,

If anyone had have craned their necks and looked at the skies at 12.30 am on 27 August 2004 or 27th August 2006, all they would have got for their efforts was a stiff neck. As Mars was on the far side of the Sun on those two occasions and nowhere to be seen, as it was hidden behind the Sun's glare.

That is how much the hoaxers know about astronomy. That is how accurate and worthless their predictions are. Nobody should be taken in by their "knowledge" and nobody should copy and spread their e-mail to others so as "to pass on the exciting news" they have just received.

Snopes.com (see link) have a useful article on the hoax.

Answer 2

That is a false E-mail that circulates every summer. It will not happen.

It originated in 2003 when Mars did come unusually close to Earth on August 27, but Mars never gets close enough to look like anything but a bright star. It can never look like a second Moon. It was falsely reported that it would look like a 2nd Moon in 2003 and this false report has resurfaced every summer ever since. Actually, Mars will not make its next close approach until winter, and then it won't come nearly as close as it did in 2003.

Answer 3

Harry got here out in England 2 weeks b4 coz its a British movie via a British author. The Twilight element I realised too and theory a similar element. yet I additionally realised plenty videos pop obtainable first, i think of it has to do with the objective marketplace. Does it surely remember however, you merely could wait a million day.

Answer 4

This is an annoying, stupid piece of chain mail. It was in 2003, when Mars was going to be the second biggest thing in the night sky. A bunch of people are still spreading it around. It's just spam now. It won't happen for another couple of THOUSAND years. Sorry you missed your chance.

Answer 5

Nope, nope, nope- chainmail running around now, again, that started back in '03 when Mars made a particularly-close pass to Earth. Still, it only looks like a bright star from here, even then. See

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

Mars is never so close that it even looks like the brightest star in the sky, let alone comparable in size to the moon.

But there will be a total lunar eclipse that evening...

Answer 6

This news bulletin was the result of a pair of idiots mooning tourists from atop the Eiffel Tower.

Answer 7

Don't believe the hype. All one needs is a very basic understanding of the planet sizes and distances from earth to see the fallacy in the hoax.

Answer 8

the people that made that stupid thing up are the same people that think we faked the lunar landings, holocaust never happened, the world is gonna end in 2012, UFOs exist, hypnosis actually works, and people can actually predict the future when they stare into space with a stupid expression and act like they are talking to someone. its stupid =P

Answer 9

*sigh* don't you people read old answers before blurting out your questions here?

IT. IS. A. MYTH.

Answer 10

Here's your details: It's a myth.