Michael Shermer once noted in the book Why People Believe Weird Things that science is not always kryptonite to pseudoscience, rather pseudoscience raises and falls in tandem with the real stuff. So it is with Mars fakery. The better images and data we get the more the alien conspiracy buffs and NASA cover-uppers come out of the wood work. The image above is an easily debunked fake making the usual rounds right now, supposedly of a double sunset on Mars. Click it to see the real story over at Bad Astronomy, and stay skeptical my friends.
Look, sir! Suns!
There are water ice clouds on Mars, and sun dogs are just reflections off of said clouds. They’re a rare event on Earth, could they even happen on Mars?
Not that this is a sun dog… actually, I think the Bad Astronomer is spot on with that scene from Star Wars.
nope. that’s a reala picture. heck, you can even see Toshi Station on the lower right. i picked up some power converters there last week.
A sun dog certainly doesn’t look like that anyway, even if Phil hadn’t already showed pretty convincingly that this is most likely a Martian landscape mashed up with a Tatooine sunset. But as to the question, could they happen… IANAAstrometeorologist (is anybody???), but my guess is no. I would think the atmosphere on Mars would be too thin for sufficient condensation to develop, but maybe I’m way off on that.
You can play with your friends when your chores are done.
Jamessweet:
Halos on Mars.
I’ve been using the real photo that this was based on as my desktop background for years. There’s just something so wonderfully poetic about that faraway sun.
It’s just a picture of Mittwit and RyandRand, but hopefully the sunset of their nonsense.