Mars? Close, but not THAT close

It is happening again, the e-mail stories about Mars approaching the Earth and when it does it will appear as big as the full Moon. Seems this particular hoax is gaining a life of its own. This is the fourth time for this one.

Last year when this hoax poked its head out I wrote about it and with all the media coverage I thought it would not appear again, but, as is with the nature of hoaxes, it is still there and doesn't seem to want to go away.

The basis of the hoax is this, the planet Mars reached a two-year close point to the Earth in August of 2003. The close point is called opposition. It is where the planet is opposite the Sun in the night sky. In 2003 it was the closest it had been in 59,619 years and while appearing as a bright red spot in the night sky it was no where near as large as the e-mail represented.

It also said the opposition would happen in August. Last year the close point was in October and, in reality, the last time the really close opposition occurred was in August of 2003.

This year it will be on Dec. 24, and while Mars will be 55 million miles from the earth, it will be nowhere near as close as it was in 2003.

As for appearing as big as the full Moon, if that were true there would be all kinds of gravitational fluctuation and interaction problems resulting is great damage to both planets. What the e-mail failed to mention was that the Moon would appear as big as the full Moon through a telescope, and then only in 2003 would that have been true.

So, if these breathlessly worded e-mails show up in your box telling you to not miss this event and to show your kids because it will never occur again in anyone's lifetime, do what I do ... just hit the delete key.

Mars is, however, growing brighter with each passing week as it does indeed draw closer the the Earth. You will find it in the morning skies about the width of your fist held at arms length to the right of the Pleiades star cluster. Look about an hour before sunrise. It you are out that early try to catch a glimpse of Mercury down and to the left just above the horizon nestled in the feet of Gemini.

SKY WATCH:

First quarter Moon on July 22. Jupiter, the Moon, and Antares in conjunction after sunset on July 25.

-- Next time, more ramblings about astronomical stuff.