I read somewhere that Mars is going to come about 34M miles from the Earth and will look like two moons supposedly. Can anyone tell me if this is true??
2007-08-16 02:56:35 · 13 answers · asked by polluxgirl14 2 in Science & Mathematics ➔ Astronomy & Space
gotta love inertnet chain mails.... I get this one about 3 times a year, usually from my gramma
when it did happen it did not look like the size of the moon with out a telescope. you can read about it here:
http://www.snopes.com/science/mars.asp
2007-08-16 03:08:03 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 2⤋
False.
Hoax is repeated every year since 2004. (In 2003, the 35 million miles part was true, not the part about looking as big as the Moon).
Mars does come "closest" to Earth every 2 years, at opposition. That is when both planets are on the same line, on the same side of the Sun. When that happens, the distance between Earth and Mars can be close to 50 million miles, with a closest approach in 2003 (Aug. 27) at 35 million miles.
Still, in 2003, Mars appeared 75 times smaller than the Moon. No danger of mistaking it for the Moon.
This year, at opposition (December) Mars will more like 50 million than 35 million miles and will, therefore, not appear as large as it did in 2003.
In August 2007, the Moon will appear 150 times larger than Mars, simply because Mars will still be so far away.
2007-08-16 03:53:10 · answer #2 · answered by Raymond 7 · 2⤊ 0⤋
Planetary News: Mars (2007)
Not This August, or Any August! Mars Will Not Be as Big as the Full Moon
By Bruce Betts
August 14, 2007
PL VISIT THE WEB PAGE
http://www.planetary.org/news/2007/0814_Not_This_August_or_Any_August_Mars.html
Mars during the 2003 opposition
This photo was captured by the Hubble Space Telescope during Mars' closest approach to Earth in over 60,000 years, on August 27, 2003. The view shows the triangular, dark shape called Syrtis Major to the right of center, and the equatorial dark stripe called Sinus Meridiani to the left of center. The giant, ancient Hellas Basin is the circular feature at lower right. Source Credit: NASA, J. Bell (Cornell University), and M. Wolff (Space Science Institute)
In what seems like an August tradition, e-mails and web postings circulating around the Internet say that Mars will be brighter than it has been in thousands of years, and that it will look as big as the full Moon. Neither of these statements is true, although Mars will be very bright and easy to observe during the fall and winter of this year. The origin of the rumor is presumably linked to the fact that Mars was indeed closer to Earth than it had been in tens of thousands of years -- in August 2003. But even during that close approach, Mars appeared as a point of light in the sky.
While I do want to fight misinformation -- I still want to remind you to look up! We shouldn't need an excuse like "closest approach for 60,000 years" to look up and see the planets. Right now, Mars rises in the middle of the night in the east, but it will become visible in the evening sky and will get much brighter as we approach opposition at the end of the year. And, Jupiter is the brightest star-like object in the evening sky.
Here is more information about Mars viewing in 2007:
- In 2007, Mars will be closest to Earth on December 18.
- Mars never appears large enough to be more than a point of light to the naked eye, and certainly not coming anywhere near the apparent size of the Moon in our sky!
- In 2007, Mars will be significantly farther than it was in 2003, but closer than it will be at its next opposition in 2010. In December 2007, it will still be nice to see as it will be about as bright as the brightest star in the sky, but not nearly as bright as Jupiter or Venus
2007-08-17 23:44:15 · answer #3 · answered by SHYAMALA 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
27th Aug the Whole World is waiting for.............
Planet Mars will be the brightest in the night sky starting August. It will look as large as the full moon to the naked eye. This will cultminate on Aug. 27 when Mars comes within 34.65M miles of earth. Be sure to watch the sky on Aug. 27 12:30 am . It will look like the earth has 2 moons. The next time Mars may come this close is in 2287.NO ONE ALIVE TODAY will ever see it again.
2007-08-16 03:10:09 · answer #4 · answered by Lynn 5 · 0⤊ 3⤋
Come on, everyone knows they have repainted the "Death Star" red. The are just using this Mars thing as a cover up. As soon as they fix the grill on the ship it will be gone.
2007-08-18 23:29:35 · answer #5 · answered by Felipaa' 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
no, this has been in circulation for many years. The original peice they took it from was an article when our orbit was passing mars. The article said that mars would appear as big as the moon through a 300x telescope, not with the naked eye.
2007-08-16 03:03:02 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 1⤋
No it's not true but researches have concluded that if Mars were to come near the earth, it's likely possible because of Earth's magnetic field that attracts Mars closer to Earth bit by bit
2007-08-16 04:25:09 · answer #7 · answered by Ralphkid 2 · 0⤊ 3⤋
Yes, it's true!!!!
OMG run for your lives!
Mars is gonna crash with Earth.
Oh, wait, this is just the same nonsense that has been asked about 20 times a day for the past month or two. If you check some of the other people who asked the same question you will see...
We are all going to die!!!!!!!!11!!!one!one!!!!1
2007-08-16 03:05:32 · answer #8 · answered by most important person you know 3 · 0⤊ 4⤋
not true, that happened a few years ago and it was just a little brighter then usual not even close to looking like the moon.
2007-08-16 03:00:54 · answer #9 · answered by pooh 6 · 2⤊ 1⤋
It's absolutely false. Please, for the love of God, search the forums before asking this question. It gets asked probably 25 times a day.
2007-08-16 03:40:04 · answer #10 · answered by Ryan H 6 · 2⤊ 0⤋