Tonight's the Night...

[aspen]

Posted: 8/27/06 at 1:48pm

That thousands of poor shmucks will wonder "How stupid am I?"
when they can't find a full-moon sized Mars in the night sky.

http://www.newsday.com/news/health/ny-hssky264866262aug26,0,3108842.story?coll=ny-health-print

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Mars' cyberspace hoax
DENNIS MAMMANA

August 26, 2006


Well, did you see it? The most spectacular sight in the history of life on Earth? Mars - swelling in our sky to the size of the full moon?

If you're connected to a computer or know someone who is, you've almost certainly heard about the grand event that was to occur Sunday.

People have bought binoculars and telescopes in anticipation of sharing with parents, grandparents, children and grandchildren a celestial event that "no one alive today will ever see again."

Most amazing is that this claim - that no one alive today will ever see such an event - is absolutely true. But that's because it has never, will never and can never happen!

What you've been reading is information that's being recirculated from the close approach of Mars on Aug. 27, 2003, along with some significantly bogus information thrown in for good measure.

But let's imagine, for a moment, that it were true - that Mars could indeed appear in our sky as large as the full moon. For this to happen, the Red Planet would have to approach within 484,000 miles - or about twice the distance of the moon itself. That would indeed be impressive, but if it were to do so, its gravitational pull would - at the very least - raise tides on Earth that might entirely wipe out coastal cities. Yow!