listening: business misery - paramore
mood: slackingly bored

Is it true that on august 27, 2008, mars will be almost as close to the earth as the moon?

No, Mars never gets anywhere near as close to the Earth as the Moon does. You are the victim of a hoax email that circulates every year around this time.

This is an urban myth which began with an email which was sort of true in 2003, that Mars would be very close and bright. It also had a line in it which suggested that Mars, IN A TELESCOPE, would look as large as the Moon with the naked eye. Somewhere along the way, the "with a telescope" bit disappeared. August 2003 came and went, and many people had wonderful views of Mars through telescopes provided by amateur astronomers around the world.

Then the email resurfaced in 2004, when Mars was on the far side of the Sun. Then again in 2005, when Mars was in opposition in October, not August, and quite a bit smaller. Then again in 2006, when Mars was again on the far side of the Sun. Then again in 2007, when opposition was in December, and Mars smaller still. Now, you're the victim of this fake email in 2008! Mars is again on the far side of the Sun.

When will people learn that astronomical events are predicted for a particular date, which has absolutely nothing to do with Earth years, and you can't just keep recycling the same prediction and changing the year? Everything on Mars happens in a 26 month cycle: August 2003, October 2005, December 2007, etc.

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HMMMMMM....