THE MARS HOAX
by Terence Dickinson, SkyNews Editor

Thanks to the Internet, information spreads around the world faster than ever before. But so does false information. Sometimes it’s hard to know which is which--what’s a rumour and what’s factual.

Take the case of the item now making the rounds on the Internet called “The Red Planet is about to be Spectacular.” It says that in August, Earth and Mars will make the closest approach to each other in recorded history. Then comes this statement: “On August 27th ‚ Mars will look as large as the full Moon.” And this: “No one alive today will ever see this again.”

The tip-off that this is a hoax is that the “information” is anonymous. No source is mentioned, no scientist is attributed, no news agency is credited. Somebody just made it up--almost.

Mars did in fact come closest to Earth in recorded history on August 27, but that was August 27, 2003, not this year. It was bright, but it looked like a bright star, not anything like the full Moon. Never has. Never will.

To the unaided eye, Mars always looks like a bright rust-hued star, a pinprick of light, certainly nothing like the full Moon. Sometimes it is bright and conspicuous, as it was in August, 2003, when it came within 56 million kilometres of Earth, setting a 60,000-year record. Other times it looks the same as a moderately bright star. But it never appears anything other than starlike.

So, what are we to make of this Internet Mars story with its crude combination of outdated and wildly incorrect “facts?”

It’s not junk science because no scientist or organization is claiming it is true. Nobody signed it. No source is indicated. It’s just plain junk--a hoax. Yet because of the Internet, millions of people have heard about it. I know, because everywhere I speak or teach, I get asked about it. (Is Mars really going to be as bright as the full moon in August?)

Why would somebody go to the effort of creating such a hoax? Maybe it’s the class clown syndrome--doing it to get attention. But that doesn’t make much sense because the message doesn’t promote a product, an organization, an ideology, or any individual’s name. It’s something that never could have happened in the pre-internet era.

What this incident does do, I hope, is prove once again that just because a message comes out of a computer, that doesn’t necessarily give it any more validity than a conversation overheard in a coffee shop.

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AUGUST NIGHT SKY
by Todd Carlson, Assistant Editor

METEORS: The annual Perseid meteor shower, a favourite celestial event for backyard astronomers and vacationers alike, reaches its peak on the night of August 12. Unfortunately, the nearly full Moon will be illuminating the night sky, washing out all but the brightest meteors. Although fewer meteors will be visible--about 15 per hour compared to triple that on a dark, moonless sky--the best observations will occur after midnight when the constellation Perseus has risen above the eastern horizon. (Perseus is the region of the sky from which the meteors seem to emerge.) Sometimes called “shooting stars,” meteors have nothing to do with stars. They are bits of interplanetary debris, ranging from a sand grain to a peanut in size, that are quickly incinerated when they plunge into the Earth’s atmosphere.

PLANETS: Mercury, Venus and Saturn can all be observed hugging the eastern horizon shortly before dawn in mid-August. On August 20 and 21, Saturn and Mercury will be within one degree of each other, appearing as faint stars to the lower left of brilliant Venus, the brightest planet. On August 22, the thin crescent Moon joins the group to form a striking scene.

Observers should seek out a location with an unobstructed view toward the eastern horizon to view both Mercury and Saturn.

Click HERE for an image showing the location of Mercury, Venus and Saturn on August 22, 2006.

Capturing the planetary conjunction with a digital camera is easy. Simply mount the camera to a camera or video tripod and, using manual mode, set the lens to f2.8 or f3.5. Using ISO 400, bracket your exposures between 1 and 10 seconds since the approaching daylight can quickly change the exposure time required. Some digital cameras can be also be used in auto mode, allowing the camera to adjust for the changes in brightness.

Jupiter, the largest planet in our solar system, can be seen shortly after sunset, appearing as a bright “star” low in the southwest. Take note of the position of Jupiter relative to an object, such as a tree or building, at your observing location. As each day passes, Jupiter will appear to move slightly closer to the western horizon, eventually disappearing into the glare of the Sun by late September.

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SkyNews Observer's Guide

What planets can be seen in the night sky tonight? When is the full Moon? Are there any special sky events occurring this month?

To find out the answers to these questions and more, visit the SkyNews Observer’s Guide webpage.

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In the September/October 2006 issue of SkyNews:

• 2005 SkyNews Photo of the Week contest winners.
• Exploring the Night Sky by Alan Dyer.
• Scoping the Sky by Ken Hewitt-White.
• Moon map.
• Star chart for September and October.
• And more!

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Do you have an aspiring young astronomer? Will your children be studying astronomy in school this year? Containing sky charts, the latest news, a detailed summary of upcoming celestial events and more, SkyNews is an excellent resource for astronomers of all ages.

For more information or to subscribe now, please call 1-866-759-0005 or click HERE to subscribe online.