Saturn Close To Earth On June 1st 2016: Hoax

Story:

Saturn Close To Earth On June 1st 2016.

Other Versions

The World will See SATURN Close to EARTH on June 1st 2016.

Analysis:

A story shared widely on social media sites and elsewhere online states that the world will see the ringed planet Saturn close to Earth on 1st June 2016. It also says that NASA has confirmed it will be an ‘astronomical spectacle’ for people that did not happen in over 10,000 years. No, the claims are not facts.

Origin of Story

On 8 May 2016, Now88News website now88news.com published the story in an article, along with a picture of ‘breaking news’ story showing what appears like huge ringed planet Saturn over sky. Some people mistook the report for real and went on to share the ‘news,’ and then some online outlets also published alternative versions of the story. The story, however, is not real; Now88News is a fake news website that publishes satirical content as mentioned in their Disclaimer information. They also mention ‘Satire News’ in the footer of their web pages. As far as the fanciful image is concerned, it is simply a part of an illustrative article that shows the Sun and Moon being replaced by other planets (Saturn in this case). You can see the full picture below.

Picture about Saturn Close To Earth On June 1st 2016 — Saturn Close To Earth On June 1st 2016

Saturn Appearance in June 2016?

According to EarthSky website earthsky.org, on the night of June 2-3, 2016, the ringed planet Saturn reaches opposition – as in, Earth passes in between Saturn and the Sun (see picture below). But this is not something strange, it happens every year.

So the stories saying the world will see the ringed planet Saturn close to Earth on June 1st 2016 are hoaxes that originated from a fake news website.