Two Moons ??

[Toddy]

I've just been sent this message by a friend.

"Two moons on 27 August

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 cultivate 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.
Share this with your friends as NO ONE ALIVE TODAY will ever see it again."

Does anyone know if this is true for the UK? and if so, is the timing the same?

atb,
Toddy

 

[fredcraft]

This really intrigues me. Would that make it like around 6AM for eastern canada ?

 

[gregorach]

This is a chain-letter type thing which went around (with the exact same details) last year - somebody's obviously removed the "2006" bit.

It wasn't true then either. There is no way that Mars could look as large as the full moon. As for when Mars is at its closest approach, and how often it gets that close, I'd need to look it up...

 

[andyn]

Not true im afraid Toddy.

Just another one of those emails designed to flood the internet and confuse people.

http://urbanlegends.about.com/library/bl_mars_encounter.htm

Sounds like something actually happened in 2003 though. Missed that one.

 

[scanker]

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

 

[gregorach]

OK, here you go: The Big Mars Hoax

Earth 'catches up' to Mars in their respective orbits roughly every 2 years - and that is when they are closest to each other - referred to as opposition. Because both orbits are ellipses, and not circular, the distance between the two planets varies each time they are closest to each other. At closest they are about 57 million kilometres - at farthest just less than 100 million kilometres. Last time they were at opposition was in November 2005 , next time is in December 2007, but each encounter is (at the moment) becoming further away, and then gradually they will be closer again at each encounter. This is a 15 year cyclic phenomena that has been happening for... well since the solar system has been in its current configuration - billions of years. BUT - never will the two planets be so close that Mars "looks as big as the moon". At the absolute closest, Mars will still just look like a (reasonably) bright pinkish star to the naked eye.

 

[Toadflax]

Looks like another one of those those urban myths. A quick Google reveals messages circulating over several years saying that this is going to happen - I've found predictions from 2003, 2006 and 2007.

None of the reputable astronomy sites appears to have any information about it.

EDIT: Others beat me to it!. Looks like lots of us nerds posted at the same time!!!

Geoff

 

[herby]

This went round last year too...

http://www.universetoday.com/2006/07/27/no-mars-wont-look-as-big-as-the-moon-in-august/

 

[Toddy]

Thanks guys , especially for the links.
I hate false information, especially when it sounds like something interesting :bluThinki

May folks who think things like this up get repetitive strain injury in their keyboard hands

cheers,
Toddy

 

[gregorach]

And from the redoubtable Bad Astronomer: Mars attacks again, again. This one's got a really, really good photo of the Moon occulting Mars in it though...

 

[Toadflax]

But what about the two suns of Magrathea?

He watched two suns set magnificently over Magrathea. He went back down into the crater. He woke the robot up because even a manically depressed robot is better to talk to than nobody.

Geoff

 

[Jodie]

Heh, a nice curse Toddy.

Mars was very visible a few years ago - might have been 2003, can't remember! I used
to nip out every evening with the binoculars and gawp at it, quite exciting. I thought the
Transit of Venus was also excellent and was pleased that I still had my safety glasses
from 1999's almost-complete solar eclipse, which I enjoyed in Cornwall.

 

[EdS]

apart from which this is Britain - it'll be heavy cloud if anything was happening.

 

[Porcupine]

acording to the mail that should be no problem, mars will be so close itl be below the clouds ;P