Mars as big as Moon is a Hoax

William Atkins
Wednesday, 25 August 2010 23:58

Opinion and Analysis

The Mars Hoax is once again showing up in emails all around the world. It states that the planet Mars will appear in the sky as large as the Moon on August 27, 2010. This will not happen! It is all a hoax! And, many of you are perpetuating this email falsehood.

 

 

The Mars Hoax email in 2010 states, "NO ONE ALIVE TODAY WILL EVER SEE THIS AGAIN.”

Wrong! Wrong! Wrong!

The truth is: Actually, the closest approach of Mars to the Earth occurred in 2003. Even at this closest approach, the planet Mars was still only as large as an average star in the night sky.

The Mars Hoax also states, “It will look as large as the Moon to the naked eye.”

False! Simply false!

The planet Mars will NOT look as large as the Moon, whether your eyes are naked or even with eye glasses on.

This email hoax has been circulating for seven years now—since 2004. As it is passed from one reader to another, it becomes blown out of proportion. However, here are the facts from a reliable source: the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), who employ scientists, engineers, and other people with knowledge to separate fact from fiction.

According to the NASA article The Mutating Mars Hoax, “Here are the facts. On August 27, 2010, Mars will be 314 million km [kilometers, or about 195 million miles] from Earth, about as far away as it can get. Mars will shine in the western sky after sunset like a tiny red star of ordinary brightness. If you didn't know it was there, you probably wouldn't notice.”

At this same time, the Moon is approximately 249,000 miles (about 400,000 kilometers) away from Earth. The Moon is about 780 times closer to the Earth than is the planet Mars. This is why it appears so large in the sky when compared to planets (which are millions of miles away) and stars (which are light-years away, except for the Sun that is about 93 million miles away).

NASA states, “The only way to see Mars as large as the full Moon is to board a spaceship” ... and fly to Mars. We may do that in twenty or thirty years, but right now this is not possible.

Page two continues with an explanation by NASA, the U.S. space agency, about the origins of this falsehood.