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| - Fact Check: Those WhatsApp texts saying you will see two moons tonight are a hoax
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) - a federal agency of the US responsible for civilian space programmes - has been trying to alert and educate people since 2005 against this rumour about Mars coming so close to earth that it will look like a second moon.
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India Today Fact Check
Almost every year since 2005, this message has been circulated on social media as a spectacular celestial event. According to NASA, in 2003, Mars made its closest approach to Earth in nearly 60,000 years. It won't be that close again until the year 2287.
In Short
- The hoax message is being circulated in other languages other than English
- Nasa has being trying to educate people on this hoax since 2005
- In 2003, Mars was as close as 54.6 million kms to Earth
Don't believe ths message that has been doing the rounds mostly via WhatsApp and emails "12.30 August 27th you will see two moons in the sky, but only one will be the moon. The other will be Mars. It won't happen again until 2287. No one alive today has ever witnessed this happening."
The same message is also being circulated in other languages other than English on WhatsApp groups.
But beware! Don't believe this! Don't stay up till midnight staring at the night sky looking for this spectacular celestial event! Because it's never going to happen! Never, ever!
It seems rumour mills never get tired of rolling out the same hoax year after year!
A reverse image search shows that the Photoshopped picture of the two moons along with the mentioned message is one of those typical recurring hoaxes.
Almost every year since 2005, this message has been circulated on social media as a spectacular celestial event of a lifetime.
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (Nasa) - a federal agency of the US responsible for civilian space programmes - has been trying to alert and educate people since 2005 against this rumour about Mars coming so close to earth that it will look like a second moon.
Read more about this here.
But why has this message been going around for so long that people still circulate it believing it's true?
The viral message, which claims Mars will come closer to earth tonight (August 27) and that it will look as big as the Moon is right to some extent. In fact, according to Nasa, it was much closer last month between July 27 and July 30. Then it was much closer to earth at 57.6 million kilometres.
Fifteen years ago in 2003 on August 27, the red planet came extraordinarily close to Earth - just as close as 54.6 million kilometres.
NASA in a statement said, "In 2003, Mars made its closest approach to Earth in nearly 60,000 years! It won't be that close again until the year 2287."
In 2003, Mars appeared 6 times larger and 85 times brighter than it ordinarily looks. But can we see Mars as big as the Moon when it comes nearest to earth? The answer is no.
NASA has sent out a big warning against this hoax on its website to make people more aware - "Don't be fooled by the Mars Hoax. The message is that Mars will look as big as the Moon in our night sky. If that were true, we'd be in big trouble given the gravitational pulls on Earth, Mars, and our Moon!" More on that can be read here.
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