It is claimed that Mars (pictured) will appear so large in the sky on Aug. 27 that it will look as if Earth has two moons.
NASA
This Friday, August 27, the planet Mars will be the brightest in the night sky, will look as large as the full moon to the naked eye. On August 27, when Mars is at 34.65 miles from Earth at 12:30 AM, will look as if the earth had two moons. The next time Mars may come so close is in 2287. No one that is alive now will see Mars so close again.
In relative terms, the moon Friday night will be roughly 400 times larger than Mars will appear.In astro-speak, Mars will have an apparent diameter of about 4.4 arcseconds. The moon, by contrast, will have an apparent diameter of about 29.5 arcminutes. While those units aren't something most people use every day, you can get an intuitive grasp by thinking in terms of time. Twenty-nine minutes is substantially longer than four seconds.
Although two moons is not on Earth's astronomical agenda Friday night, by all means, check out the evening sky anyway.
- http://www.csmonitor.com/Science/2010/0826/Two-moons-on-Friday-night-It-s-a-bogus-claim-about-Mars
- Black Berry Messenger News
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