Mars Hoax Circulates the Internet

[Gman]

There's a rumor going around. You might have heard it at a 4th of July BBQ or family get-together. More likely you've read it on the Internet. It goes like this:

"The Red Planet is about to be spectacular."

"Earth is catching up with Mars the closest approach between the two planets in recorded history."

"On August 27th … Mars will look as large as the full moon."

And finally, "NO ONE ALIVE TODAY WILL EVER SEE THIS AGAIN."

Those are snippets from a widely-circulated email. Only the first sentence is true. The Red Planet is about to be spectacular. The rest is a hoax.
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You might remember another encounter with Mars, about two years ago, on August 27, 2003. That was the closest in recorded history, by a whisker, and millions of people watched as the distance between Mars and Earth shrunk to 56 million km. This October's encounter, at 69 million km, is similar. To casual observers, Mars will seem about as bright and beautiful in 2005 as it was in 2003.

http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/050708_mars_hoax.html

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Maybe this has already been posted here in Science, but I couldn't find it on a search of all forums.

I keep getting this forwarded to me because people know I'm interested in astronomy.

Pass it on!

[beam me up scottie]

1. Thanks for the heads up.

I'm bookmarking this because I'm sure it'll show up in GD eventually.

[salvorhardin]

2. Astronomy Picture Of the Day mentioned it a couple days ago too

APOD is a site I visit almost every day. The pictures there are gorgeous and the explanations illuminating.
http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod

Explanation: Will Mars appear extremely close and bright later this month? No. Regardless of numerous urban legends circulating, Mars will appear relatively normal in August. October is the best month to see Mars this year. The red planet is now visible in the morning before sunrise. As Earth catches up to Mars in their respective orbits around the Sun, Mars will keep rising earlier in the night. On 2005 October 30, Earth will have caught up to Mars and the planets will be the nearest to each other in their orbits -- this time around. On October 30, Mars will be nearly opposite to the Sun, rise at sunset, set at sunrise, and appear highest and brightest around midnight. Also on October 30, Mars will appear brighter than it has in the past two years, although still over 10,000 times smaller and fainter than the full Moon. Earth will then pass Mars, and Mars will appear to fade. Pictured above, Mars is shown as it appeared 2003 August 27, when it appeared slightly brighter than it had in nearly 60,000 years. The foreground setting is in the Valley of Fire state park in Nevada, USA. The ellipticity of orbits primarily determines the closeness and brightness of Mars during opposition.

http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap050808.html

[salvorhardin]

3. There's also the Earth Science Picture of the Day too for any interested

http://epod.usra.edu

[arwalden]

4. I Loathe Things Like This...

... this is the first I've heard of it, but it's likely that it won't be the last.

Sometimes I wonder if just mentioning them here--to INFORM people that it's a HOAX--helps to spread the hoax. There's no winning.

[WoodrowFan]

5. I'll make sure to duck when it goes by...

BTW, how close would Mars have to be to look as big as the moon???

[moggie]

6. It would block our view of Jupiter!

Fetch the Illudium Q-36 Explosive Space Modulator!

Jeez, how dumb does one have to be to believe that Mars could look as big as the moon? I hope nobody is stoopid enough to mail this hoax to me, otherwise I'm going to have to get 24th century on their arse.