Image courtesy of John Pazmino

If you’ve received an e-mail touting the appearance of two moons in the August sky, you have been deceived.

The Mars Hoax reappears every summer in a pesky e-mail chain letter designed to mislead gullible readers and stargazers. The spam missive claims that the red planet will come abnormally close to Earth on August 27 and appear the size of the moon in the night sky. As a result, astronomers throughout the country find themselves explaining how this event is utterly impossible to those who have fallen for the scam.

These are the facts: When Mars is closest to Earth, it is 56 million kilometers away. On August 27, 2003, when the red planet came as close to the earth as it will for another several thousand years, it appeared six times larger and 85 times brighter than usual—although nowhere near the size and brilliance of the moon.

Even when the moon is farthest from the Earth—some 405,503 kilometers away—Mars is still too far away to appear the size of the moon to the naked eye.

The hoax stirred up in 2003 may be especially compelling this year, says John Pazmino of NYSkies Astronomy, because a lunar eclipse will occur at 4:51 AM on August 28. If observers go out that night they may actually see the large red ball they expect.

“They are bamboozled by the eclipsed moon, believing it is Mars!” he said.

In reality, the red planet will appear low in the northeast sky during the eclipse, says Pazmino. “Look at the moon, then do an about-face. You’ll be looking right at Mars.”

However, contrary to what you may have heard, Mars will actually be closest to Earth in December this year.

Join NYSkies on August 16 for the next lecture in their seminar series which is held the first and third Thursday of every month.

Next Friday, August 17, the Columbia Department of Astronomy will open its roof for a stargazing session at the Rutherford Observatory. Stargazers will be able to see the craters on the moon and Saturn’s rings through an assortment of telescopes, and volunteers will be available to offer insight on the night sky.