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Main
Date: 06 Aug 2007 09:50:08
From: Stumpy
Subject: My Dad forwarded this to me. Is it a spoof?
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Mars
The Red Planet is about to be spectacular!
This month and next, Earth is catching up with Mars in an encounter that
will culminate in the closest approach between the two planets in
recorded history. The next time Mars may come this close is
in 2287. Due to the way Jupiter's gravity tugs on
Mars and perturbs its orbit, astronomers can only be
certain that Mars has not come this close to Earth
in the Last 5,000 years, but it may be as long as
60,000 years before it happens again.
The encounter will culminate on August 27th when
Mars comes to within 34,649,589 miles of Earth and
will be (next to the moon) the brightest object in
the night sky. It will attain a magnitude of -2.9
and will appear 25.11 arc seconds wide. At a modest
75-power magnification
Mars will look as large as the full moon to the naked eye.
Mars will be easy to spot. At the
beginning of August it will rise in the east at 10p.m.
and reach its azimuth at about 3 a.m.
By the end of August when the two planets are
closest, Mars will rise at nightfall and reach its
highest point in the sky at 12:30a.m. That's pretty
convenient to see something that no human being has
seen in recorded history. So, mark your calendar at
the beginning of August to see Mars grow
progressively brighter and brighter throughout the
month.
Share this with your children and grandchildren.
NO ONE ALIVE TODAY WILL EVER SEE THIS AGAIN
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Date: 10 Aug 2007 17:11:20
From: DustyMars
Subject: Re: My Dad forwarded this to me. Is it a spoof?
|
On Aug 6, 1:47 pm, David Nakamoto <david.nakam...@verizon.net > wrote:
> Dave Jessie wrote:
> > Sam Wormley wrote:
> >> Stumpy wrote:
> >>>Mars
>
> >>> The Red Planet is about to be spectacular!
>
> >> Space Weather News for August 4, 2007
> >>http://spaceweather.com
>
> >> BEWARE THEMARSHOAX
>
> > Hi Sam,
>
> > I've gotten about 25 emails so far this year from folks asking me about
> > this. Most take the explanation in stride and thank me for my time, but one
> > got quite upset, actually accusing me of some kind of cover-up! Last year,
> > and every July & August since 2003, same thing. My usual reply to them is
> > to send an explanation along with these three links:
>
> >http://www.skyandtelescope.com/news/8708182.html
>
> >http://www.snopes.com/science/mars.asp
>
> >http://www.hoax-slayer.com/mars-earth-close.html
>
> > Thanks for providing another link to back up my 'claim' thatMarsisn't
> > going to be 'As big as a FULL MOON!' ;^)
>
> > Clear Dark Steady Skies,
> > Dave Jessie
>
> I can't believe how the general media distorted the original story,which
> claimedMarswould look as large as the Moon does to the unaided eye,
> THROUGH A TELESCOPE. Just skip a punctuation mark, and there you go.
>
> And ever since, we've had to try and squash this pesky story every year,
> but I don't think this one will go away.
>
> --- Dave- Hide quoted text -
>
> - Show quoted text -
X-No-Archive: yes
The first time I read about such things was an article by Thomas Pope,
"MARS AND THE MOON AT COMPARABLE RESOLUTIONS," Sky and Telescope
Magazine, February 1967, page 119-120. When you use his analogy you
have to slightly adjust the relative apparent diameters comparisons to
fit a particular apparition of Mars. Pope explained it about as
simple as possible - but there are those who need complexities to get
it.
Mars is a mysterious red blob to some and a mysterious red glob to
others. :)
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Date: 07 Aug 2007 15:38:09
From: Llanzlan Klazmon
Subject: Re: My Dad forwarded this to me. Is it a spoof?
|
On Aug 7, 12:48 pm, laura halliday <marsga...@hotmail.com > wrote:
> On Aug 6, 9:50 am, "Stumpy" <perilm...@spamnet.con> wrote:
>
> Ironically, something genuinely interesting happens the next
> day, the 28th. A total lunar eclipse. A real honest-to-goodness
> astronomical phenomenon, not Internet chain-letter bullshit.
>
> >From the west coast of Canada I'm expecting a good view,
>
> even though totality begins just before 0300 local time.
> That's what alarm clocks are for. :-)
>
It's a convenient evening event for me. I'm hoping for clear skies as
the last lunar eclipse visible here was clouded out.
Bill
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Date: 07 Aug 2007 08:07:30
From: laura halliday
Subject: Re: My Dad forwarded this to me. Is it a spoof?
|
On Aug 6, 10:37 pm, SkySea <Sky...@aolREMOVE.com > wrote:
> Yes, nice graphic, but exactly my point. It shows in nice, blaring
> headlines that it's the 28th. That's true in UT, BUT...
> Non-astronomers commonly assume this means you stay up on the night of
> the 28th, and this event is during the night starting on the 27th.
>
> > Sam Wormley <sworml...@mchsi.com> wrote:
> > So they get it right
> > http://sunearth.gsfc.nasa.gov/eclipse/OH/image1/LE2007Aug28-Fig3.GIF
>
> =============
> - Dale Gombert (SkySea at aol.com)
> 122.38W, 47.58N, W. Seattle, WA
Totality is from 0952 to 1122 UTC on the 28th, which is 0252 to
0422 PDT, also on the 28th. I have no difficulty describing the
eclipse as early in the morning on the 28th. I like to think that
people aren't that dumb, but when threads like this one
keep popping up... :-}
Laura Halliday VE7LDH "Non sequitur. Your ACKS are
Grid: CN89mg uncoordinated."
ICBM: 49 16.05 N 122 56.92 W - Nomad the Network Engineer
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Date: 08 Aug 2007 19:55:54
From: Margo Schulter
Subject: Re: My Dad forwarded this to me. Is it a spoof?
|
laura halliday <marsgal42@hotmail.com > wrote:
> Totality is from 0952 to 1122 UTC on the 28th, which is 0252 to
> 0422 PDT, also on the 28th. I have no difficulty describing the
> eclipse as early in the morning on the 28th. I like to think that
> people aren't that dumb, but when threads like this one
> keep popping up... :-}
>
> Laura Halliday VE7LDH "Non sequitur. Your ACKS are
> Grid: CN89mg uncoordinated."
> ICBM: 49 16.05 N 122 56.92 W - Nomad the Network Engineer
>
Hi, Laura, and I've been looking forward to this eclipse also. To
minimize the risk of any possible misunderstanding, we might follow
your example of specifying the time.
I enjoyed total lunar eclipses in 1997 and 2003 with binoculars, and
wonder how the eclipse might affect DSO observing with a 20cm f/6
Newtonian. Maybe one benefit of these lunar eclipses is that remind
us that telescope or no, binoculars have their own unique value!
By the way, one curious point about that Mars chain letter: it does
give the diameter of Mars as something like 25", which sounds to me
about correct -- in contrast to some 30' for the full Moon! A
telescope and eyepiece around 75X would be about right to make
Mars have a diamater comparable to that of the naked-eye Moon. Maybe
this fits the explanation of an originally reasonable version that
got confused in the retelling.
Similarly, the paleobiologist Preston Cloud tells an amusing story
in a book that came out in the early 1980's about _Earth's Earliest
Biosphere_ (if I recall the title correctly) in the Archean and
earlier Proterozoic. Someone was describing apparent microfossils,
maybe from Warrawoona in the humorously named "North Pole" region
of Australia, dating back about 3.5 gigayears to the early Archean.
These filamentous microfossils, with evident affinities to modern
prokaryotes, were described at one point as having a somewhat
"wormlike" shape.
Then, as Cloud tells it, stories started circulating about "3.5 Ga
worms" -- although the original reference had been a loose
description of apparent prokaryotic micro-organisms like modern
bacteria, not worms!
Possibly the "Mars chain letter" is the rough astronomical
equivalent of this example.
Most appreciatively,
Margo Schulter
mschulter@calweb.com
Lat. 38.566 Long. -121.430
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Date: 07 Aug 2007 23:20:38
From: Terry B
Subject: Re: My Dad forwarded this to me. Is it a spoof?
|
> Totality is from 0952 to 1122 UTC on the 28th, which is 0252 to
> 0422 PDT, also on the 28th. I have no difficulty describing the
> eclipse as early in the morning on the 28th. I like to think that
> people aren't that dumb, but when threads like this one
> keep popping up... :-}
>
>
Lucky for us down under it is a lovely evening item on 28th.
First reasonably timed eclipse for many years.
Terry B
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Date: 07 Aug 2007 01:42:49
From: Bert Hyman
Subject: Re: My Dad forwarded this to me. Is it a spoof?
|
In news:13bek325u2hsj06@corp.supernews.com "Stumpy"
<perilmung@spamnet.con > wrote:
> The Red Planet is about to be spectacular!
My next-door neighbor, a recently retired math teacher, fell for that.
How depressing.
--
Bert Hyman St. Paul, MN bert@iphouse.com
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Date: 06 Aug 2007 23:23:31
From: KL&M
Subject: Re: My Dad forwarded this to me. Is it a spoof?
|
Bert Hyman wrote:
> In news:13bek325u2hsj06@corp.supernews.com "Stumpy"
> <perilmung@spamnet.con> wrote:
>
> > The Red Planet is about to be spectacular!
>
> My next-door neighbor, a recently retired math teacher, fell for that.
>
> How depressing.
>
> --
> Bert Hyman St. Paul, MN bert@iphouse.com
Buttttt, its on the NEWS! Must be true. FOX saz so.
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Date: 06 Aug 2007 17:48:50
From: laura halliday
Subject: Re: My Dad forwarded this to me. Is it a spoof?
|
On Aug 6, 9:50 am, "Stumpy" <perilm...@spamnet.con > wrote:
> Mars
>
> The Red Planet is about to be spectacular!
> (nonsense snipped)
No, it isn't. Why do people keep forwarding this garbage?
Ironically, something genuinely interesting happens the next
day, the 28th. A total lunar eclipse. A real honest-to-goodness
astronomical phenomenon, not Internet chain-letter bullshit.
>From the west coast of Canada I'm expecting a good view,
even though totality begins just before 0300 local time.
That's what alarm clocks are for. :-)
Laura Halliday VE7LDH "Non sequitur. Your ACKS are
Grid: CN89mg uncoordinated."
ICBM: 49 16.05 N 122 56.92 W - Nomad the Network Engineer
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Date: 06 Aug 2007 18:13:43
From: SkySea
Subject: Re: My Dad forwarded this to me. Is it a spoof?
|
I highly recommend that in informing frineds etc. that you emphasize
that this is the night of the 27th / morning of the 28th. Folks might
"stay up on the 28th" looking for it, 24 hours too late.
>laura halliday wrote:
>Ironically, something genuinely interesting happens the next
>day, the 28th. A total lunar eclipse. A real honest-to-goodness
>astronomical phenomenon, not Internet chain-letter bullshit.
=============
- Dale Gombert (SkySea at aol.com)
122.38W, 47.58N, W. Seattle, WA
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Date: 07 Aug 2007 01:32:11
From: Sam Wormley
Subject: Re: My Dad forwarded this to me. Is it a spoof?
|
SkySea wrote:
> I highly recommend that in informing frineds etc. that you emphasize
> that this is the night of the 27th / morning of the 28th. Folks might
> "stay up on the 28th" looking for it, 24 hours too late.
>
>> laura halliday wrote:
>> Ironically, something genuinely interesting happens the next
>> day, the 28th. A total lunar eclipse. A real honest-to-goodness
>> astronomical phenomenon, not Internet chain-letter bullshit.
>
> =============
> - Dale Gombert (SkySea at aol.com)
> 122.38W, 47.58N, W. Seattle, WA
So they get it right
http://sunearth.gsfc.nasa.gov/eclipse/OH/image1/LE2007Aug28-Fig3.GIF
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Date: 06 Aug 2007 22:37:05
From: SkySea
Subject: Re: My Dad forwarded this to me. Is it a spoof?
|
Yes, nice graphic, but exactly my point. It shows in nice, blaring
headlines that it's the 28th. That's true in UT, BUT...
Non-astronomers commonly assume this means you stay up on the night of
the 28th, and this event is during the night starting on the 27th.
> Sam Wormley <swormley1@mchsi.com> wrote:
> So they get it right
> http://sunearth.gsfc.nasa.gov/eclipse/OH/image1/LE2007Aug28-Fig3.GIF
=============
- Dale Gombert (SkySea at aol.com)
122.38W, 47.58N, W. Seattle, WA
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Date: 06 Aug 2007 11:20:07
From: Starlord
Subject: Re: My Dad forwarded this to me. Is it a spoof?
|
qne more suckers fall foe the B.S.
--
There are those who believe that life here, began out there, far across the
universe, with tribes of humans, who may have been the forefathers of the
Egyptians, or the Toltecs, or the Mayans. Some believe that they may yet be
brothers of man, who even now fight to survive, somewhere beyond the
heavens.
The Lone Sidewalk Astronomer of Rosamond
Telescope Buyers FAQ
http://home.inreach.com/starlord
Sidewalk Astronomy
www.sidewalkastronomy.info
The Church of Eternity
http://home.inreach.com/starlord/church/Eternity.html
AD World
http://www.adworld.netfirms.com/
"Stumpy" <perilmung@spamnet.con > wrote in message
news:13bek325u2hsj06@corp.supernews.com...
>
> Mars
>
>
> The Red Planet is about to be spectacular!
>
> This month and next, Earth is catching up with Mars in an encounter that
> will culminate in the closest approach between the two planets in
> recorded history. The next time Mars may come this close is
> in 2287. Due to the way Jupiter's gravity tugs on
> Mars and perturbs its orbit, astronomers can only be
> certain that Mars has not come this close to Earth
> in the Last 5,000 years, but it may be as long as
> 60,000 years before it happens again.
>
> The encounter will culminate on August 27th when
> Mars comes to within 34,649,589 miles of Earth and
> will be (next to the moon) the brightest object in
> the night sky. It will attain a magnitude of -2.9
> and will appear 25.11 arc seconds wide. At a modest
> 75-power magnification
>
>
> Mars will look as large as the full moon to the naked eye.
> Mars will be easy to spot. At the
> beginning of August it will rise in the east at 10p.m.
> and reach its azimuth at about 3 a.m.
>
> By the end of August when the two planets are
> closest, Mars will rise at nightfall and reach its
> highest point in the sky at 12:30a.m. That's pretty
> convenient to see something that no human being has
> seen in recorded history. So, mark your calendar at
> the beginning of August to see Mars grow
> progressively brighter and brighter throughout the
> month.
> Share this with your children and grandchildren.
>
> NO ONE ALIVE TODAY WILL EVER SEE THIS AGAIN
>
>
>
>
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Date: 06 Aug 2007 16:51:25
From: Sam Wormley
Subject: Re: My Dad forwarded this to me. Is it a spoof?
|
Stumpy wrote:
> Mars
>
> The Red Planet is about to be spectacular!
>
Space Weather News for August 4, 2007
http://spaceweather.com
BEWARE THE MARS HOAX: It's August, which means it's time for the annual Mars Hoax. An email is going around claiming
that Mars will approach Earth on August 27th; the encounter will be so close, the email states, that Mars will rival the
full Moon in size and brightness. (Imagine the tides!) Don't believe it. The Mars Hoax email first appeared in 2003. On
August 27th of that year, Mars really did come historically close to Earth. But the email's claim that Mars would rival
the Moon was grossly exaggerated. Every August since 2003, the email has staged a revival.
Here's something that is true: Mars is having a close encounter with the Pleiades star cluster, easily seen in the
eastern sky before sunrise. Especially good mornings to look are August 6th and 7th when the crescent Moon joins the
planet and the cluster to form a pretty celestial triangle. Set your alarm!
MANMADE NOCTILUCENT CLOUDS: This morning in Florida, NASA's Phoenix Mars lander blasted off from Cape Canaveral aboard
a Delta II rocket. The rocket's exhaust created a beautiful display of luminous, night-shining clouds. See the photos
at http://spaceweather.com.
__________________________
Will Mars Look as Big as the Moon on August 27? Nope
http://www.universetoday.com/2007/07/25/will-the-mars-look-as-big-as-the-moon-on-august-27-nope/
Every year around this time, an email circulates across the Internet
speculating that on August 27th, Mars will look as big as the Moon in
the sky. And every year, I go ahead and debunk it. Here's a link to
last year's version. Once again, I'd like to inoculate all my Universe
Today readers, to make sure you understand what's going on, and you're
prepared to explain to your eager friends why this non-event isn't
going to happen.
Say it with me. Mars won't look as big as the Moon on August 27th.
This strange hoax first surfaced on the Internet back in 2003. An email
made the rounds with the following text:
The Red Planet is about to be spectacular! This month and next,
Earth is catching up with Mars in an encounter that will culminate
in the closest approach between the two planets in recorded
history. The next time Mars may come this close is in 2287. Due to
the way Jupiter's gravity tugs on Mars and perturbs its orbit,
astronomers can only be certain that Mars has not come this close
to Earth in the Last 5,000 years, but it may be as long as 60,000
years before it happens again.
The encounter will culminate on August 27th when Mars comes to
within 34,649,589 miles of Earth and will be (next to the moon) the
brightest object in the night sky. It will attain a magnitude of
-2.9 and will appear 25.11 arc seconds wide. At a modest 75-power
magnification
Mars will look as large as the full moon to the naked eye. By the
end of August when the two planets are closest, Mars will rise at
nightfall and reach its highest point in the sky at 12:30 a.m.
That's pretty convenient to see something that no human being has
seen in recorded history. So, mark your calendar at the beginning
of August to see Mars grow progressively brighter and brighter
throughout the month. Share this with your children and
grandchildren. NO ONE ALIVE TODAY WILL EVER SEE THIS AGAIN
There are a few problems with this. The first problem is that the email
doesn't actually mention the date; it just says August 27th. This means
it can live on for years and years, going around and around the
Internet, forwarded by gullible people to their friends.
The second problem is that it's wrong. Mars isn't going to be making a
close approach on August 27. The close approach this email is
discussing happened back in 2003. It did indeed get closer than it had
in at least 50,000 years, but this was a very small amount. On August
27th, 2003, Mars closed to a distance of only 55,758,006 kilometers
(34,646,418 miles). The Moon, by comparison, orbits the Earth at a
distance of only 385,000 km (240,000 miles). Mars was close, but it was
still 144 times further away than the Moon.
Instead of appearing as a huge red orb in the sky, Mars looked like a
bright red star. Observers around the world set up their telescopes,
and took advantage of this close encounter. But you still needed a
telescope. And if you read the email carefully again, you'll see that
it's trying to explain that.
There's an extra paragraph break. The last sentence of second paragraph
is hanging. It says, "At a modest 75-power magnification ", but there's
no period. The next paragraph starts up with the text, "Mars will look
as large as the full moon to the naked eye." In other words, if you put
one eye into the telescope and looked at Mars, and kept your other eye
looking at the Moon (which isn't actually humanly possible), the two
orbs would look roughly the same size.
Mars and Earth do come together every two years, reaching the closest
point on their orbits - astronomers call this "opposition". And we're
in one of those years. But it's not going to happen on August 27th.
Instead, we'll make our opposition on December 18th, 2007. At this
point, Mars will be 88.42 million km (55 million miles) - further away
than its 2003 opposition.
NASA is taking advantage of the upcoming opposition, and will launch
the Phoenix Mars Lander in August. The spacecraft will make its
shortest possible journey to reach Mars, arriving early next year.
And by next July, it'll be time to write this article all over again.
Filed under: Moon, Mars
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Date: 06 Aug 2007 23:22:37
From: KL&M
Subject: Re: My Dad forwarded this to me. Is it a spoof?
|
Yepper! The Nars los Capproach has already hit the news
in Eastern Ioway. The pig farmers are ready for invasion.
CAA ready to observe. Thanks for the advisory! Check FOX
and area astro clubiym for further updates.
Yeeeeeeeeeeeeeehaw! Oink Oink.
Sam Wormley wrote:
> Stumpy wrote:
> > Mars
> >
> > The Red Planet is about to be spectacular!
> >
>
> Space Weather News for August 4, 2007
> http://spaceweather.com
>
> BEWARE THE MARS HOAX: It's August, which means it's time for the annual Mars Hoax. An email is going around claiming
> that Mars will approach Earth on August 27th; the encounter will be so close, the email states, that Mars will rival the
> full Moon in size and brightness. (Imagine the tides!) Don't believe it. The Mars Hoax email first appeared in 2003. On
> August 27th of that year, Mars really did come historically close to Earth. But the email's claim that Mars would rival
> the Moon was grossly exaggerated. Every August since 2003, the email has staged a revival.
>
> Here's something that is true: Mars is having a close encounter with the Pleiades star cluster, easily seen in the
> eastern sky before sunrise. Especially good mornings to look are August 6th and 7th when the crescent Moon joins the
> planet and the cluster to form a pretty celestial triangle. Set your alarm!
>
> MANMADE NOCTILUCENT CLOUDS: This morning in Florida, NASA's Phoenix Mars lander blasted off from Cape Canaveral aboard
> a Delta II rocket. The rocket's exhaust created a beautiful display of luminous, night-shining clouds. See the photos
> at http://spaceweather.com.
>
> __________________________
>
> Will Mars Look as Big as the Moon on August 27? Nope
> http://www.universetoday.com/2007/07/25/will-the-mars-look-as-big-as-the-moon-on-august-27-nope/
>
> Every year around this time, an email circulates across the Internet
> speculating that on August 27th, Mars will look as big as the Moon in
> the sky. And every year, I go ahead and debunk it. Here's a link to
> last year's version. Once again, I'd like to inoculate all my Universe
> Today readers, to make sure you understand what's going on, and you're
> prepared to explain to your eager friends why this non-event isn't
> going to happen.
>
> Say it with me. Mars won't look as big as the Moon on August 27th.
>
> This strange hoax first surfaced on the Internet back in 2003. An email
> made the rounds with the following text:
>
> The Red Planet is about to be spectacular! This month and next,
> Earth is catching up with Mars in an encounter that will culminate
> in the closest approach between the two planets in recorded
> history. The next time Mars may come this close is in 2287. Due to
> the way Jupiter's gravity tugs on Mars and perturbs its orbit,
> astronomers can only be certain that Mars has not come this close
> to Earth in the Last 5,000 years, but it may be as long as 60,000
> years before it happens again.
>
> The encounter will culminate on August 27th when Mars comes to
> within 34,649,589 miles of Earth and will be (next to the moon) the
> brightest object in the night sky. It will attain a magnitude of
> -2.9 and will appear 25.11 arc seconds wide. At a modest 75-power
> magnification
>
> Mars will look as large as the full moon to the naked eye. By the
> end of August when the two planets are closest, Mars will rise at
> nightfall and reach its highest point in the sky at 12:30 a.m.
> That's pretty convenient to see something that no human being has
> seen in recorded history. So, mark your calendar at the beginning
> of August to see Mars grow progressively brighter and brighter
> throughout the month. Share this with your children and
> grandchildren. NO ONE ALIVE TODAY WILL EVER SEE THIS AGAIN
>
> There are a few problems with this. The first problem is that the email
> doesn't actually mention the date; it just says August 27th. This means
> it can live on for years and years, going around and around the
> Internet, forwarded by gullible people to their friends.
>
> The second problem is that it's wrong. Mars isn't going to be making a
> close approach on August 27. The close approach this email is
> discussing happened back in 2003. It did indeed get closer than it had
> in at least 50,000 years, but this was a very small amount. On August
> 27th, 2003, Mars closed to a distance of only 55,758,006 kilometers
> (34,646,418 miles). The Moon, by comparison, orbits the Earth at a
> distance of only 385,000 km (240,000 miles). Mars was close, but it was
> still 144 times further away than the Moon.
>
> Instead of appearing as a huge red orb in the sky, Mars looked like a
> bright red star. Observers around the world set up their telescopes,
> and took advantage of this close encounter. But you still needed a
> telescope. And if you read the email carefully again, you'll see that
> it's trying to explain that.
>
> There's an extra paragraph break. The last sentence of second paragraph
> is hanging. It says, "At a modest 75-power magnification ", but there's
> no period. The next paragraph starts up with the text, "Mars will look
> as large as the full moon to the naked eye." In other words, if you put
> one eye into the telescope and looked at Mars, and kept your other eye
> looking at the Moon (which isn't actually humanly possible), the two
> orbs would look roughly the same size.
>
> Mars and Earth do come together every two years, reaching the closest
> point on their orbits - astronomers call this "opposition". And we're
> in one of those years. But it's not going to happen on August 27th.
> Instead, we'll make our opposition on December 18th, 2007. At this
> point, Mars will be 88.42 million km (55 million miles) - further away
> than its 2003 opposition.
>
> NASA is taking advantage of the upcoming opposition, and will launch
> the Phoenix Mars Lander in August. The spacecraft will make its
> shortest possible journey to reach Mars, arriving early next year.
>
> And by next July, it'll be time to write this article all over again.
>
> Filed under: Moon, Mars
|
| | |
Date: 06 Aug 2007 20:59:50
From: Chris L Peterson
Subject: Re: My Dad forwarded this to me. Is it a spoof?
|
On Mon, 06 Aug 2007 16:51:25 GMT, Sam Wormley <swormley1@mchsi.com >
wrote:
>BEWARE THE MARS HOAX: It's August, which means it's time for the annual Mars Hoax...
I think it's a mistake to consider this a hoax. That implies a
deliberate attempt to mislead that I don't think is there. The story was
originally accurate. Along the way the bit about using a telescope to
see Mars look the same size as the full Moon got dropped, but I think
that was probably an accident. This annual email survives because it
mentions only the month, and because most people are neither educated
nor critical enough to detect the flaws in it.
Hoax, no. Symbol of ignorance, yes.
_________________________________________________
Chris L Peterson
Cloudbait Observatory
http://www.cloudbait.com
|
| | | |
Date: 07 Aug 2007 03:20:42
From: David Nakamoto
Subject: Re: My Dad forwarded this to me. Is it a spoof?
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Chris L Peterson wrote:
> On Mon, 06 Aug 2007 16:51:25 GMT, Sam Wormley <swormley1@mchsi.com>
> wrote:
>
>> BEWARE THE MARS HOAX: It's August, which means it's time for the annual Mars Hoax...
>
> I think it's a mistake to consider this a hoax. That implies a
> deliberate attempt to mislead that I don't think is there. The story was
> originally accurate. Along the way the bit about using a telescope to
> see Mars look the same size as the full Moon got dropped, but I think
> that was probably an accident. This annual email survives because it
> mentions only the month, and because most people are neither educated
> nor critical enough to detect the flaws in it.
>
> Hoax, no. Symbol of ignorance, yes.
I think that the dropping of the use of the telescope was, if not
deliberate by the normal press, typical of science reporting by the
common media. As for the continued re-issuing of this fallacious news
every year, this has to be a deliberate hoax by now. I mean, how else
does this thing start off again every August?
--- Dave
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Date: 06 Aug 2007 13:11:27
From: Dave Jessie
Subject: Re: My Dad forwarded this to me. Is it a spoof?
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Sam Wormley wrote:
> Stumpy wrote:
>> Mars
>>
>> The Red Planet is about to be spectacular!
>>
>
> Space Weather News for August 4, 2007
> http://spaceweather.com
>
> BEWARE THE MARS HOAX
Hi Sam,
I've gotten about 25 emails so far this year from folks asking me about
this. Most take the explanation in stride and thank me for my time, but one
got quite upset, actually accusing me of some kind of cover-up! Last year,
and every July & August since 2003, same thing. My usual reply to them is
to send an explanation along with these three links:
http://www.skyandtelescope.com/news/8708182.html
http://www.snopes.com/science/mars.asp
http://www.hoax-slayer.com/mars-earth-close.html
Thanks for providing another link to back up my 'claim' that Mars isn't
going to be 'As big as a FULL MOON!' ;^)
Clear Dark Steady Skies,
Dave Jessie
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Date: 06 Aug 2007 17:47:25
From: David Nakamoto
Subject: Re: My Dad forwarded this to me. Is it a spoof?
|
Dave Jessie wrote:
> Sam Wormley wrote:
>> Stumpy wrote:
>>> Mars
>>>
>>> The Red Planet is about to be spectacular!
>>>
>> Space Weather News for August 4, 2007
>> http://spaceweather.com
>>
>> BEWARE THE MARS HOAX
>
> Hi Sam,
>
> I've gotten about 25 emails so far this year from folks asking me about
> this. Most take the explanation in stride and thank me for my time, but one
> got quite upset, actually accusing me of some kind of cover-up! Last year,
> and every July & August since 2003, same thing. My usual reply to them is
> to send an explanation along with these three links:
>
> http://www.skyandtelescope.com/news/8708182.html
>
> http://www.snopes.com/science/mars.asp
>
> http://www.hoax-slayer.com/mars-earth-close.html
>
> Thanks for providing another link to back up my 'claim' that Mars isn't
> going to be 'As big as a FULL MOON!' ;^)
>
> Clear Dark Steady Skies,
> Dave Jessie
I can't believe how the general media distorted the original story,which
claimed Mars would look as large as the Moon does to the unaided eye,
THROUGH A TELESCOPE. Just skip a punctuation mark, and there you go.
And ever since, we've had to try and squash this pesky story every year,
but I don't think this one will go away.
--- Dave
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Date: 06 Aug 2007 17:33:00
From: Sam Wormley
Subject: Re: My Dad forwarded this to me. Is it a spoof?
|
Dave Jessie wrote:
> Sam Wormley wrote:
>> Stumpy wrote:
>>> Mars
>>>
>>> The Red Planet is about to be spectacular!
>>>
>> Space Weather News for August 4, 2007
>> http://spaceweather.com
>>
>> BEWARE THE MARS HOAX
>
> Hi Sam,
>
> I've gotten about 25 emails so far this year from folks asking me about
> this. Most take the explanation in stride and thank me for my time, but one
> got quite upset, actually accusing me of some kind of cover-up! Last year,
> and every July & August since 2003, same thing. My usual reply to them is
> to send an explanation along with these three links:
>
> http://www.skyandtelescope.com/news/8708182.html
>
> http://www.snopes.com/science/mars.asp
>
> http://www.hoax-slayer.com/mars-earth-close.html
>
> Thanks for providing another link to back up my 'claim' that Mars isn't
> going to be 'As big as a FULL MOON!' ;^)
>
> Clear Dark Steady Skies,
> Dave Jessie
>
>
Yesterday I experienced a similar face-to-face response from a man in my
own community, who should know better. I have invited him to observe Mars
with me in the early morning of August 27.
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