2 MOONS ON 27th AUGUST ?!

I'm sure quite a number of you have heard of this either from your friends or emails but this is actually not true....
Its just an email hoax that has circulated during July and August saying that the planet Mars will be passing very close to Earth in August. While this information was valid back in 2003, but its now hopelessly outdated.

well one of our friend here did fall for this and called me up yesterday asking me where is the 2nd moon LOL.... but i wouldnt have know this was fake until i came across this site, hoax-slayer.com. So to make things clear, just read on and you'll know more about the story.

Commentary:

The year is not specifically mentioned in the message and a great many recipients therefore assume that the message refers to August, 2007. Another version of the message is circulating via SMS. Virtually identical (and equally misleading) messages were circulating back in July and August 2005 and again in July and August 2006. The events outlined in the message were more or less true back in 2003 although they were a little hyped even then. According to NASA, on August 27, 2003, Earth and Mars were the closest they have been for around 60,000 years. Mars was indeed a spectacular site in the night sky during several months of 2003.

However, this fact is not quite as earth shattering as you might think. A 2003 NASA article on the subject explains that:

Much has been made of the fact that the August 27th encounter with Mars is the closest in some 60,000 years. Neanderthals were the last to observe Mars so favorably placed. This is true. It's also a bit of hype. Mars and Earth have been almost this close many times in recent history.

In spite of the claims in the 2006 incarnation of the message, Mars was a far less than "spectacular" sight in the night sky. For much of 2006, it was on the far side of the sun from the Earth and was quite inconspicuous during July and August.

And, during July and August 2007, the view of Mars will again be far less than spectacular. Mars will make its closest approach to Earth in December 2007, but, even then, it will not be particularly bright. The SEDS website notes:

Mars will come into its Opposition on December 24, 2007 in constellation Gemini. Six days earlier, on December 18, 2007, the planet will have come to its closes distance to Earth during this apparation: 88.42 million km (55 million miles, or 0.58935 AU). This is not very close, as Mars will be quite close to its aphelion at the time of this opposition. As usual, this approach will offer another opportunity to launch spacecraft to the red planet: Nasa intends to send the Mars lander Phoenix.

The planet will be situated far north: At a northern declination of +26:46 at opposition time, Northern hemisphere observers will find it high in their meridian, and Southerners will find it low in the North. In this rather aphelic opposition, the planet will become only as bright as mag -1.64, and of diameter 15.88 arc seconds around that time.

At around 88 million kilometers, Mars will be a lot further away from Earth this year than it was back in 2003 when the distance between the planets was only around 56 million kilometers.

This message seems set to keep resurfacing every year and duping a whole new set of recipients into gazing rather fruitlessly at the night sky. But don't despair! Close encounters with Mars are not such uncommon events. The claim that "NO ONE ALIVE TODAY WILL EVER SEE THIS AGAIN!" is misleading. It is true that the next time Mars will be as close to Earth as it was in 2003 will be on August 28, 2287. In the mean time however, there will be plenty of other close approaches, so our children and our children's children are not likely to miss out altogether.

Perhaps by 2287 some of our descendants will be observing the close encounter from the Martian perspective.

BTW, glad to hear that edward came back from his vacation in china and all the StirShitStick members would like to wish you a HAPPY BELATED BIRTHDAY!, and we miss you as much as you miss Jac. wtf
Sigh.... and there goes another 20 years old.... damn sad wtf. because i'm still 19 wtf.



wtf
ok lar ciaoz