Dear Tom,
I received an e-mail saying Mars will be very close to the Earth on Aug. 27 and will appear to the naked eye to be as large as the full moon. Is this true?
Carol Notley
Dear Carol,
It's an e-mail hoax, and it keeps popping up. Containing phrases like, "The Red Planet is about to be spectacular" and, "On August 27th Mars will look as large as the full moon" and, "No one alive today will ever see this again," that e-mail has garnered international attention -- but it's just not true.
It all started when, on Aug. 27, 2003, Mars orbited within 35 million miles of Earth, its closest approach in just under 60,000 years. At that time, Mars did appear as large as the full moon -- but only when viewed through binoculars or a telescope at 75-power magnification. Mars made another close approach to Earth in December 2007: 55 million miles. These approaches had no effect on Earth.
I received an e-mail saying Mars will be very close to the Earth on Aug. 27 and will appear to the naked eye to be as large as the full moon. Is this true?
Carol Notley
Dear Carol,
It's an e-mail hoax, and it keeps popping up. Containing phrases like, "The Red Planet is about to be spectacular" and, "On August 27th Mars will look as large as the full moon" and, "No one alive today will ever see this again," that e-mail has garnered international attention -- but it's just not true.
It all started when, on Aug. 27, 2003, Mars orbited within 35 million miles of Earth, its closest approach in just under 60,000 years. At that time, Mars did appear as large as the full moon -- but only when viewed through binoculars or a telescope at 75-power magnification. Mars made another close approach to Earth in December 2007: 55 million miles. These approaches had no effect on Earth.
Tom, Any Chance You Can Send Some Cool Weather To Phoenix,AZ?