Week Six EOC: Fake News

Almost every astronomy claims in recent years, if not sourced by NASA, have turned out to be false. One of the most recent claims that continues to reappear in the double moon. The claim, which was spread all over Facebook, Twitter, and other social media claimed, "SEE MARS AS LARGE AS THE FULL MOON ON 27TH AUGUST 2016. Should be spectacular! Truly a once in a lifetime experience!" The posted photo as well as the quote was shared over 620,000 times according to IFLScience.com. The real answer to this hoax happened in 2003. Phil Plait explained, “On that date, through a telescope that magnifies an image 75x, Mars would look as big as the Moon does to the naked eye. ... But this being the Internet, that got all mished and mashed up, and somehow became this idea that if you went outside Mars would look huge in the sky, looming over the world like something out of an H. G. Wells novel." Lisa on IFLScience.com also states, “Just for kicks, how close would Mars need to be to appear as large as the full moon in the night sky? About 780,000 kilometers (485,000 miles), which is approximately 118 times closer than it will ever be. Heck, the Moon’s average distance is about 363,100 kilometers (225,600 miles), so we’d all be in pretty big trouble if Mars got that close.” Something as simple as fake astronomy can be spread like wild fire, just as the current worlds politics get spread. The average Facebooker does not fact check and this allows for fearmongering. This article and claim are just one example of a debunked social media statement. As a society, we need to fact check and debunk false claims more often to prevent the social plague that is currently spreading.

http://www.iflscience.com/space/no-mars-will-not-appear-large-full-moon-night-sky/