The viral hoax claims that Mars will look as big as the moon this weekend

There is a party in the Shadow of the Earth this weekend, and our cosmic neighbors are invited!

The guest list is a who's who of the neighboring celestial bodies. The moon will be there, passing through the center of the Earth's massive shadow for nearly 2 hours on Friday night (July 27), resulting in the longest total lunar eclipse of the century. (Unfortunately, North Americans will not be able to see this eclipse in person, but they can diffuse it.)

Then there is the guest of honor: March. Through a biennial alignment of Earth and Mars orbits around the Sun on July 31, the Red Planet has been approaching the Earth since 2003 (and it has generously agreed to bring some of this famous water Martian at the party). This means that for a glorious night, Mars will appear as big as the full moon in the night sky … no? [7 Most Mars-Like Places on the Planet]

To paraphrase an Apollo astronaut, "Houston, we have nonsense."

An article of viral hoax making this allegation is traced every few years, when Mars makes a closer approach to the Earth. But the idea that a rock at 35.8 million miles (57.6 million kilometers) will suddenly appear a thousand times larger in the night sky is total nonsense – and NASA wants to s & # 39; Make sure you know it

"Do not be fooled by the Mars Hoax," NASA scientists wrote in a recent blog that someone at the agency felt compelled to publish. "The message is that Mars will look as big as the moon in our night sky, if that were true, we would have big problems, given the gravitational effects on Earth, Mars and our moon!"

We can speculate on the havoc that a Mars-sized moon would cause for all parties involved: severely higher tides on Earth, a heavily warmed Martian climate and perhaps even the most severe weather. removing the moons of the two planets from their orbits, to name just a few. But it is probably more productive to say what will actually happen when Mars approaches the Earth in 15 years

Opposition to Nonsense

Here is what you need to know: Earth and Mars are moving around the sun elliptical orbits, so that their relationship to each other in the space always changes. Every few years, their orbits align.

When that happens, it is said that Mars is in opposition, because the Red Planet and the Sun are located on opposite sides of the Earth. For Earthlings, this means that when the sun goes down in the West at night, Mars seems to rise to the East. Over the next few nights, Mars will shine more and more in the evening sky as the planet approaches the Earth on July 31, finally reaching 57.6 million kilometers from our planet before setting out again.

It is still very far, but it is much closer than the average distance between our two great worlds, which is about 140 million miles (225 million km). The minimum distance between Earth and Mars is about 34 million miles (54.6 million km), but this close approach rarely happens. The closest we have had in modern history goes back to 2003, when Mars traveled about 56 million kilometers from Earth – the closest of the two planets for nearly 60,000 years! (Incidentally, 2003 is the first year that e-mails from Mars circulated.)

So what will this cosmic event really look like? Mars will still appear to the naked eye as a small red glow in the sky, but it will be about 10 times brighter than it was a few months ago (but not as bright as Venus , however). With a good telescope, you may be able to understand some of the finer details of the red planet, including its polar ice caps, but that will not be as clear as the moon, says NASA

. for a great weekend. But what does the approach of Mars mean to you, personally? Some astrologers warn that the sun and the opposite positions of Mars on the zodiac wheel could lead to a wave of "sexual tension and magnetism" this weekend. Because astrology is not an evidence-based science, we can not talk about the truth of this prediction, but here is a scientific tip: If you meet someone this weekend who tells you that Mars will appear as big as the moon night sky, do not sleep with them

Originally posted on Live Science