Incredibly Incorrect Lunar Eclipse Article Published Today

[Notrump]

Today BGR published and AT&T Yahoo further distributed an article called How to watch tonight's incredibly rare lunar eclipse.

There will be no lunar eclipse tonight. They only occur during Full Moons, and currently it is a waning Half Moon. The next lunar eclipse will be a penumbral event on 2017 FEB 10. Also the author should learn the difference between astronomical and astrological. I was thinking this must have been an old article or something on the Onion. It's not April Fools Day. The article is dated today. This seems a goof similar to the Mars appearing as big as a Full Moon silliness. Who nowadays hires reporters who are unable to properly fact check? Why can't an editor catch such nonsense?

Link: www.yahoo.com/tech/watch-tonight-incredibly-rare-solstice-lunar-eclipse-214418455.html

 

[RecoveringYuppy]

It is not only dated today but talks about the solstice which is "today". I note Google has a few links to others repeating this article but they all lead to 404's.

 

[Skeptic Ginger]

I wonder if it's meant as BGR click-bait?

Further comments suggest it was a real event on the winter solstice in 2010.

Should we start a pool betting on how long it will take either Yahoo or BGR to retract the nonsense?

I'm going to say social media will shorten the time it takes the editors to respond to less than 24 hours.

Then again, fake news on social media is all the rage.

 

[Skeptic Ginger]

This might have something to do with it:

While running BGR, Boy Genius kept his identity concealed. On April 27, 2010, Boy Genius revealed himself as Jonathan Geller, a 23-year-old Greenwich High School dropout who never attended college.[11][12] Geller chose to remain anonymous at first due to the marketing opportunities that being anonymous afforded him and his site; however when BGR joined Penske Media Corporation Geller decided it was best for both he and his site that he reveal himself as the site's founder and Editor in Chief. [13]