If you remember the ditty "I see stars, I see Mars, I see someone's underdrawers ," like me, you must've gone to grade school in the 1950s and 1960s--or earlier.We sang that ditty on the playground during recess when a girl wearing a dress hung upside down on the monkey bars, went too high on a swing, or got her skirt tangled in a jump rope. Wait (she says blushing), I was usually the one who did those things and was taunted by some smart aleck out to spoil my mindless fun.
Now, when I hear "I see stars or I see Mars," I smooth down my imaginary skirt so as not to offend anyone.
Earlier this month I received an e-mail about the planet Mars. Briefly it reminded me of my playground embarrassments, but even more it made me believe I might witness history on August 27--this coming Friday.
Here's what the e-mail claimed: On August 27th Mars will approach Earth and swell to the size of a full Moon. "NO ONE ALIVE TODAY WILL EVER SEE THIS AGAIN!"
The e-mail advised to tell my grandkids--which I did. Faithfully all month I've looked up in the sky, "It's a bird, it's a plane," oops, that's another childhood jingle. Anyway, I've looked skyward at night and have seen what I thought was the planet Mars. And it is bright.
Then I did some research. Okay, I actually didn't do a lot of research, I Googled the word Mars.
I found an article on Red Orbit News, titled "Demystifying The Mutating Mars Hoax." You can read the entire article by clicking on the link above, but in a nutshell: If you go out on the evening of August 27th, the bright light in the west is Venus. But if you grab a pair of binoculars, a few degrees to the right, you will be able to see a little orange star-like object. That is Mars.
Before reading the news article I had planned to announce the historic event of seeing Mars this coming Friday.
Good thing I checked out the facts first. I might've once again embarrassed myself having some mindless fun.
