Detailed Analysis
Image credit ESA/NASA/SOHO
The claim that the Earth will have two suns in June 2010 is nothing more than an absurd hoax
According to this message, which circulates via email and has also been posted to many blogs, forums and social networking websites, a star by the name of "Aderoid" will come within 34.65 million miles of Earth in June 2010 and it will look as large as the Sun to the naked eye. The message claims that, because this star will be so close, it will look like the Earth has two suns.
However, the claims in the message are utter nonsense. A star named "Aderoid" or any other star, not even our own Sun, certainly will NOT be within 34.65 million miles of the Earth in June 2010 or at any other time in the foreseeable future.
The distance of our Sun from the Earth is around 93 million miles. Thus it is simply ridiculous to suggest that another star is about to come much closer to the Earth - only 34 million miles or so - than our Sun. If a star, even one smaller than our sun, was to come that close we certainly would not be gazing with wonder and merriment at the spectacular sky. In fact, we would be resoundingly dead, along with all other life on the planet. As a case in point, our inner neighbour, Mercury - far too hot and inhospitable to host life as we know it - is around 36 million miles from the sun. Thus, if a second sun was to really come within 34 million miles - closer than Mercury is to our Sun - than our cool, green and blue world would be much more like our hellish and lifeless neighbour. In reality, aside from the Sun, the closest star system to Earth is Alpha Centauri, at around 25.8 trillion miles.
And, of course the gravitational consequences of the sudden appearance of a second star in our Solar system would likely be catastrophic to say the least.
Moreover, there are no credible references to a star with the name "Aderoid". A search for that name on the Internet Stellar Database website yields no results. Nor does the same search on the SIMBAD Astronomical Database.
In reality, as the following example illustrates, this silly prank email is nothing more that a mangled version of the Mars, Earth - Closest Approach in Recorded History hoax that tends to circulate every year around July and August.
Subject: 2 MOONS ON 27 AUGUST 2007
27th August 2007, a Monday the Whole World is waiting for.............2 moons on 27th August 2007
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 culminate on Aug. 27, 2007 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.
While the Mars version is highly inaccurate, misleading and hopelessly outdated, it was at least derived from a real event that took place back in 2003. However, the "Aderoid", two suns version is pure nonsense through and through. It seems likely that some prankster simply made up the "Aderoid" story just as a joke, using the older Mars hoax as a template. What is truly amazing is how many people actually believe the ridiculous claims in the message and pass it on to others.
