Oh what do I tell them...

[SteveL]

Oh what do I tell relatives when they find little "gems" like the image below and email them to me

A scene you will probably never get to see,

so take a moment and enjoy nature at work at the North Pole.

This is the sunset at the North Pole with the

moon at its closest point.

And, you also see the sun below the moon.

An amazing photo and not one easily duplicated.

You may want to pass it on to others.

The Chinese have a saying that goes something like this:

'When someone shares with you something of value, ?

You have an obligation to share it with others!'

Sunset At The North Pole:

How do you go about telling these relatives that its fake, but without upseting them or appearing rude?

<sigh>

[peonic]

You don't have all e-mail from relatives pointed to /dev/null?

Chris

[Jamie]

Hows about---

OI DOPEY YOU BEEN HAD!!!!! Naaa Naaa Na Na Naaa....

No????

Ok then i can't help you..... :(

[James]

I just ignore them... but respond to any other messages they send. Most of my relatives (at least the ones that send emails like that) probably think I'm a dour miserable Victor Meldrew type... but I can live with that! I find that easier than upsetting them. I drew the line at the Mars as big as the moon email that went round last summer which my godmother kindly forwarded and gave her a hard time about it to my lingering shame :?

James

[beamish]

You sure Steve ,looks genuine enough to me

Karlo

Tell them the truth !!

[barkis]

Must be a planet somewhere where that is possible. Neptune?

[GazOC]

And we've got the 'Mars looks larger than the Moon' hoax Emails due to come around again in a few months...

I agree though, you've got to tell them....

[The Warthog]

They're here already.

[jonifive]

Why not get them to download stellarium, set their position at the pole and see if they can recreate the image, should take them a while!!!

JV

[lunator]

Steve

Tell them it's a pretty picture but that's it. It's just a pretty picture.

[Talitha]

Oh my gosh, that thing's still making the rounds?

[Astroman]

I smile and explain exactly why it's impossible, in the least condescending way I can. Unless they're ten years old, then I say, as I pat them on the head, "There there, little one. Even grown-ups get fooled by this sort of thing all the time."

[The Warthog]

Steve

Tell them it's a pretty picture but that's it. It's just a pretty picture.

I think if you told them the moon and the sun are the same size.... No, they'd just try to find some way to explain it.

[cygnusx1]

I think if you told them the moon and the sun are the same size.... No, they'd just try to find some way to explain it.

But, but the moon and the sun are the same size silly....look they both same size when you look at them.

[Talitha]

The timing of this thread is uncanny..

I received an email from my cousin this evening entitled "2 moons coming?!" It was the one about Mars being as large as the Full Moon.. I'm sure we've all heard about it.

As a response, I explained the 2003 Mars opposition and gave her a few URLs to bookmark. I also gave her a 100% guarantee that the "Fwd: Fwd:" stuff that people pass around online is pure trash.

Honestly, it never fails to amaze me how gullible people can be. Can't they tell the difference between a documented news story and junk mail?

[The Warthog]

I think if you told them the moon and the sun are the same size.... No, they'd just try to find some way to explain it.

But, but the moon and the sun are the same size silly....look they both same size when you look at them.

Actually, that's what I meant. You couldn't take that picture from earth, even at the poles.

[The Warthog]

The timing of this thread is uncanny..

I received an email from my cousin this evening entitled "2 moons coming?!" It was the one about Mars being as large as the Full Moon.. I'm sure we've all heard about it.

As a response, I explained the 2003 Mars opposition and gave her a few URLs to bookmark. I also gave her a 100% guarantee that the "Fwd: Fwd:" stuff that people pass around online is pure trash.

Honestly, it never fails to amaze me how gullible people can be. Can't they tell the difference between a documented news story and junk mail?

The original email was a fairly responsible description of what was going to happen during the close approach of 2001 or 2003 (I thinkit may have been the earlier.) The "Mars will appear the same size as the full moon..." was followed by an unfortunate line break, and continued further on down "...when viewed through a modest 60 power telescope." Put this way, it was more or less accurate, but given most people's inability to read and think and turn pages at the same time, a lot of people didn't connect the second part of the sentence with the first part, and history was born.

I was at a campsite on Friday, and in the reception cabin was a copy of a page telling about the close approach of mars on August 27th. One of the staff pointed it out to me, so I took the opportunity for a teaching moment. It was pretty well received, too.

[daz]

I had two people yesterday ask about the Mars and full moon thing.

[brianhluk]

How about saying "Oh don't tell me you got taken in by that as well..." At least it shows them they're not the only ones to be taken in by that.

Brian L

[anthony]

You could say - "Wow is this for real? How cool is that? Can you find me anymore like it?"

Anthony

(PS if you are after any other helpful suggestions - just ask)

[Talitha]

The original email was a fairly responsible description of what was going to happen during the close approach of 2001 or 2003 (I thinkit may have been the earlier.) The "Mars will appear the same size as the full moon..." was followed by an unfortunate line break, and continued further on down "...when viewed through a modest 60 power telescope." Put this way, it was more or less accurate, but given most people's inability to read and think and turn pages at the same time, a lot of people didn't connect the second part of the sentence with the first part, and history was born.

I was at a campsite on Friday, and in the reception cabin was a copy of a page telling about the close approach of mars on August 27th. One of the staff pointed it out to me, so I took the opportunity for a teaching moment. It was pretty well received, too.

Here's what she sent me.. obviously it's not the original email.

> The 27th Aug the Whole World is waiting for...*

>

> Planet Mars will be the brightest in the night sky starting

> August.

>

> It will look as large as the full moon to the naked eye. This

> will cultivate on Aug. 27 when Mars comes within 34.65M miles of

> earth. Be

> sure to watch the sky on Aug. 27 12:30 am. It will look like the

> earth has

> 2 moons. The next time Mars may come this close is in 2287 .

>

> Share this with your friends as NO ONE ALIVE TODAY will ever see

> it again.

This is the Science @ NASA page I sent her: Approaching Mars

It's got a pretty neat graphic illustrating Mars' size increase from June 4th through August 27th.

Btw, I think it's great that you got a chance to enlighten the campground staff member. Hopefully they'll pass it on.

[The Warthog]

That is something like the poster that was up at the campground. I think it's an edit by someone who wanted to make it easier to understand. I should have told them about the eclipse on the 28th, give them something to look forward to, even though we'll see the eclipse starting a bit before sunrise.