on august 27th is there really going to be two moons?

Question

I have heard that rumor many times

Answer 1

This is a hoax that is circulating by e-mail. However often you've heard the rumour, that doesn't make it true, does it!?

Mars will indeed look about the same size and brightness as another celestial object on 27th August 2007. But it is NOT 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. (Follow the line of Orion's Belt and it points straight at Aldebaran ...)

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 (September 12th, 57,617 BC, to be precise) there was a close approach of Mars to Earth of about 34.65 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 220 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 and share the exciting news" they have just received.

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

Answer 2

as an optical illusion, could happen, but as actually two moons, no.
One way of the two likely ways the earth could aquire another moon is that a big body by chance approaches earth and then is trapped by the earth's gravity and hopefully will just end up circling the earth and not crashing against it (just as is supposed the our moon did).
The other is that another object (huge) crashed on the earth partially breaking it (the earth) so enough matter is spelled out that ends up gathering to make a single body, and then maybe this will stay near earth to be another moon.
Hope this gives you a visual of it.

Answer 3

I think you would need a special training in order to be capable to see the two moons.
1.- Find a friend to be the designed driver
2.- Buy six beers bottles, two wine bottles, and one from each of this list: Rum, whiskey, tequila, vodka, cognac, champagne.
3.- Go to a open place, far from the city lights.

Starting after noon, begin your training with the rum. Please leave the bottle empty!
1:00pm 1st beer. Drink it.
2:00pm 1st wine. All please!
3:00pm vodka. No one drop left in the bottle.
4:00pm two beers more. Cheers!
5:00pm tea time, but with tequila. Viva Mexico
6:ooPm, Cognac de la France
7:o5pM Whiskey... Yes sir!
About 8 pm .. where is the moon? sorry, the rum
9::::oooo0o0ppmmm another wine and two beers
10 and ready to see saturn rings, but with the champagne in the hand... Voila!
11 one one equal two mo mo moom, moon two
♪ momm moom moon m m mo mo mo ♫♪♫

Answer 4

I don't think so I have never heard that rumor there could never really be two moons if it is true which I doubt then it is because of some kind of illusion

Answer 5

You used the wrong word. Its not a rumor, its an urban myth.
And its completely wrong and completely impossible.

This "story" comes around every year, and every year a lot of people that don't bother to learn even some basic astronomy fall for it.

Answer 6

It was supose to be a planet the was close enough to earth to appear to be the size of the moon, But , I believe it's a rumor,

Answer 7

one is going to our moon and the other is going to be mars. this is going to be the closed that mars has ever been to our moon and earth. this will not happen for another 1,000 yrs.

Answer 8

NO, i believed it too at first, but do some research, look up urban legends etc, you'll see that its just a rumour. It comes up every year that in august we'll see it...no such luck.

Answer 9

is probably just a myth, bu did anyone hear about the medeor showers this weekend? is it just going to be seen from a certain place? or from anyone in the globe?

Answer 10

Stand next to the moon and pull your pants down, that will make two moons.