The power of a wrong email is renewed year after year. Will Mars really be as big as the Moon?

In the last few weeks, the astronomy center in Beit Tasif has received a large number of inquiries - will Mars appear as big as the moon on August 27? How many times can it be explained that this is a mistake by the person who translated the email that has been running around for four years, instead it is better to publish someone who wants to be read (the article was published on August 8 and was promoted again in preparation for the (non) event)

In the last few weeks, the astronomy center in Beit Tasif has received a large number of inquiries - will Mars appear as big as the moon on August 27? In recent years, from July to August, letters are circulated on the Internet in which it is said that in the month of August and especially on August 27, Mars will appear in the sky as big as the Moon, quite a few people ask if this is true - and it is not so.

Mars is perhaps the most intriguing planet in the solar system - especially in terms of the possibility of life on it in the present or in the past, the thing that makes Mars so special is its great resemblance to the Earth, Mars also has solid ground, Mars also has an atmosphere (very thin) and even poles (although They mainly contain dry ice), on Mars there are clouds and also sandstorms that can sometimes cover even half of the face of the planet.

On August 27, 2003, Mars was closer to Earth than it would be in the next few centuries. At that time, quite a few emails were circulated stating that viewing Mars at 75x magnification would allow you to see it as large as the moon appears to the naked eye, most translations into Hebrew simply ignored the need for magnification through a telescope.

For a reason that concerns the human soul more than the stars in the sky, updates of those emails continue to visit us for four years, sometimes an unknown hand "corrects" 2003 to 2004/5/6 and now also to 2007. While there are astronomical events that repeat themselves every year such as meteor targets, Mars approaches the Earth once every 26 months, the last time Mars and the Earth were close was in October 2005, the next time will be in December 2007. Probably also in August 2008 a letter will arrive in your email box who says that Mars itself will appear as big as the Moon, while the distance between Mars and the Earth will increase and the apparent size of Mars will decrease.

For the previous episode in the series: Maybe the Phoenix will discover water?