Mars Appearing as Big as a Full Moon!

[Centaur]

I’m getting reports that that six-year-old undated notice of Mars coming incredibly close in August is being recirculated once again. That motivated me to research the matter more deeply. The result is a revised version of my diagram illustrating the oppositions of Mars. Here it is!

[robross]

I’m getting reports that that six-year-old undated notice of Mars coming incredibly close in August is being recirculated once again. That motivated me to research the matter more deeply. The result is a revised version of my diagram illustrating the oppositions of Mars. Here it is!

Hmm, I think you may have a pretty significant outlier in your data set. You might want to check that point again

Rob

[Celestial Mechanic]

I’m getting reports that that six-year-old undated notice of Mars coming incredibly close in August is being recirculated once again. [Snip!]

Great Flying Spaghetti Monster!! Is this thing going to be circulated at every opposition of Mars from now until the Final Serving?

'Fraid so. Debunking this sort of nonsense is what the Bad Astonomy website (remember Bad Astronomy?) was founded for.

Great diagram. A left turn at Albuquerque is just what it would take for Mars to "appear as big as a full Moon" at opposition!

[captain swoop]

Unfortunately the website is relegated to a small link on the blog

[dgavin]

I've heard of hypothetical figure 8 orbits, and now we can add the infamous PacMan orbit to the list...

[pumpkinpie]

Great Flying Spaghetti Monster!! Is this thing going to be circulated at every opposition of Mars from now until the Final Serving?

Actually, it is going to be circulated every AUGUST until the Final Serving! Most people don't know what an "opposition" is, but they certainly can understand August. So that's twice as often that we have to address this!

I have gotten the question from students as they were on their way out of my planetarium shows. Unfortunately, there is not enough time to correctly answer the question! I have to start carrying explanation cards with me.

[Bob Angstrom]

P Z at Pharyngula may have the explanation. He first said the discovery of the “missing link” was over hyped in the media and then changed his mind after reading this article by Ed Yong.

http://scienceblogs.com/notrocketsci...ng_changes.php

“The universe is not the same as it was before yesterday — I think Darwinius masillae may even have changed the course of several planets.” P Z Myers

[hhEb09'1]

Unfortunately the website is relegated to a small link on the blog

I just checked, and googling Bad Astronomy gets the original website badastronomy.com/index.htmjl as the third hit, whereas the first hit badastronomy.com is re-directed to the Discovery blog site.

The fifth hit is us! www.bautforum.com

The second hit is the blog review of Star Trek. Duh.

[stutefish]

I can't tell if the OP is a joke or not...

[robross]

I can't tell if the OP is a joke or not...

Subtle humor and sarcasm are sometimes difficult to identify on the internet, but I interpreted the post as a joke, by showing what it would take using the laws of physics, to have Mars appear as large as the full moon.

Rob

[Swift]

Most people don't know what an "opposition" is, but they certainly can understand August.

Well I don't know what "opposition" is, but it certainly sounds like something I should be against!

[NEOWatcher]

Well I don't know what "opposition" is, but it certainly sounds like something I should be against!

So; does that mean you are against Peace...er, Pax?

[Celestial Mechanic]

Actually, it is going to be circulated every AUGUST until the Final Serving! Most people don't know what an "opposition" is, but they certainly can understand August. So that's twice as often that we have to address this!

You're right! It's worse than I thought.

I have gotten the question from students as they were on their way out of my planetarium shows. Unfortunately, there is not enough time to correctly answer the question! I have to start carrying explanation cards with me.

Mars oppositions explained on one side, the difference between astronomy and astrology on the other might be your best bet.

[Celestial Mechanic]

When ol' Mars hits your eye,
Like a big pizza pie,
Say no more, hey!

[Eta C]

Well I don't know what "opposition" is, but it certainly sounds like something I should be against!

Or to quote the great Groucho "Whatever it is, I'm against it!" (damn. no smiley with a cigar here)

This one is showing up as one of the hot urban legends on Snopes right now.

[Swift]

Or to quote the great Groucho "Whatever it is, I'm against it!" (damn. no smiley with a cigar here)

I don't care to belong to an internet forum that accepts people like me as members.

[Centaur]

Some folks are using the term hoax. I’d call it a comedy of errors.

If I were a police profiler, here is what I would hypothesize. I see a teenager who had recently gotten into both astronomy and producing PowerPoint presentations. When he read reports of Mars making a close approach in 2003, he saw an opportunity to impress and excite his friends by announcing the astronomical event with a PowerPoint presentation. He cut and pasted some text which included dates but not the year, which seemed unnecessary since it was published that year. For dramatic effect, he mentioned the need for magnification on one slide and then displayed a magnified image of Mars next to a Full Moon on the next slide. Although it was not his intent, some sloppy readers took no notice of the mention of the need for magnification. Meanwhile, the presenter overlooked the power of the internet grapevine to keep information circulating even after it had become outdated. His leaving out the year was an error, but it’s understandable if he cut and pasted from sources that also left out the year.

While my attempt to profile is pure speculation, I nevertheless feel the term hoax is inappropriate. Hoax implies intentional deceit. I can understand how some of us in the astronomical community get annoyed by this Mars announcement every year and want to “blame” somebody. Let’s not blame the perpetrator for intentional mischievousness, but instead for unbridled enthusiasm which got him trapped into overlooking possible consequences.

This Mars misunderstanding is not a matter of great importance. Distortions of political or larger scientific questions can be more harmful. Nevertheless, the lesson to be learned is that the originators, redistributors and consumers of information on the internet need to always be careful, keep a skeptical eye open and apply astute judgment.

[peter eldergill]

I thought the OP was very amusing. Thanks, Centaur

Pete

[Nowhere Man]

Wiley Miller is covering this in his comic Non Sequitur. Don't worry, Wiley knows the real story. I suspect that Jeffrey is going to decide he needs a time machine as well...

Fred

[tusenfem]

Wiley Miller is covering this in his comic Non Sequitur. Don't worry, Wiley knows the real story. I suspect that Jeffrey is going to decide he needs a time machine as well...

Fred

I love reading NS every morning on the web, also love Danae's interpretation of what Jeffrey is explaining to her.

[Sticks]

I am not convinced this is ATM in the BAUT definition, so for the moment I have moved this to Astronomy pending further discussion

[Sticks]

After further discussion, this has now been moved to Off Topic Babbling

[NEOWatcher]

This thread is starting to wander more than the orbit of Mars.

[Sticks]

We are open to suggestions on where it can go

Whether we act on them is another matter

[Buttercup]

Here we go again. The astronomy media having to tell "regular folks" that Mars won't appear as big as a Full Moon.

It's ridiculous that folks in Western countries are apparently this ignorant about basic astronomy, that information has to be posted every time.

Of course the same-said folks could rattle off 5 pages' worth of detailed info about the latest bubble-headed starlet. :-\

[Gillianren]

Here we go again. The astronomy media having to tell "regular folks" that Mars won't appear as big as a Full Moon.

It's ridiculous that folks in Western countries are apparently this ignorant about basic astronomy, that information has to be posted every time.

Of course the same-said folks could rattle off 5 pages' worth of detailed info about the latest bubble-headed starlet. :-\

Not always. I am considered The Source for astronomical information for my friends (sad but true), and at least one of them forwarded me this the first time it went around. I believe she was in law school at the time and knows, and knew, no more about bubble-headed starlets than I. It's fun to look down on people who don't know as much as we do, but there is always someone looking down on us for the same thing.

[Swift]

I predict that by August, this thread will be as big as the full moon.

[Fazor]

I, for one, don't see what's so improbable about the orbit diagrammed. About that time, Niburu should be passing close enough to pull/push mars out of orbit, briefly, but the impact with earth will create enough force to push mars back into place.

[mahesh]

This thread is starting to wander more than the orbit of Mars.

We are open to suggestions on where it can go

...

You guys are so funny. i love it here

As long as it's on the sunny side, it doesn't really matter.

Thanks Centaur. Great graphics, again.

[pumpkinpie]

Wiley Miller is covering this in his comic Non Sequitur. Don't worry, Wiley knows the real story. I suspect that Jeffrey is going to decide he needs a time machine as well...

Fred

Well, it's the third day of this subject and Jeffrey is still saying what we're all trying to correct: that it will be closer than it's ever been and will be as big as the full Moon. It doesn't seem to me that he will present the real story. Even if he does, anyone not making it until the end will get misinformation.

People getting the email + people reading Non Sequitur = we're doomed for having to explain this ALL summer!