Every summer there’s misleading e-mail that circulating about how on Aug. 27 Mars will be as close as it’s been to Earth in 60,000 years and will be as big as a full moon.
Some folks have fallen for it, grabbing lawn chairs, mosquito juice and over inflated high hopes to see this momentous event, and … nothing happens. Just another pleasant evening under the stars.
The annual Mars hoax is based on a real event that did take place on Aug. 27, 2003, when Mars was the closest it’s been to Earth in 60,000 years. It was a great event, but by no means was Mars as big as a full moon, not even close.
This month Mars will be the closest it’s been in more than two years. Astronomers call it opposition, and it happens when the Earth and another planet are lined up with the sun, with the Earth in between the sun and the planet.