Sky watch: The myth of Mars' gigantic appearance

Well, the fourth week in August is the one: the most spectacular sight in the history of life on Earth. Mars - swelling in our sky to the size of the full moon!

If you're connected to a computer or know someone who is, you've almost certainly heard about the grand event that's to occur Aug. 27.

People have bought up binoculars and telescopes in anticipation of sharing with family a celestial event that "no one alive today will ever see again."

One problem: It will never, has never or can never happen. In a word, it's total bunk!

What you've been reading is information recirculated from the close approach of Mars on Aug. 27, 2003, along with loads of bogus details thrown in. In that year, Mars approached to about 35 million miles of Earth - about as close as it can ever get.

But let's imagine that the story is true - that Mars could indeed appear in our sky as large as the moon. For this to happen, the Red Planet would need to approach to within 484,000 miles - or about twice the distance of the moon itself. That would be quite impressive, but if it were so, Mars' gravitational pull would - at the very least - raise tides on our planet that would wipe out entire coastal cities.

Fortunately, there's an experiment you can do to check it out. During dusk on the week beginning Aug. 23, look to the western sky. Mars will lie above and to the right of brilliant Venus, and more than 200 times fainter. In fact, on the night of Aug. 24, Mars and the full moon will appear on opposite sides of the sky. You tell me if there's any truth to the rumors.

To learn more about this amazing phenomenon from a source far more reputable than the e-mails we've been receiving, visit: http://bit.ly/cs5LUV.

It is remarkable how a single e-mail about Mars can show up in just about every computer on Earth every summer for the past eight years. And with the Internet being what it is, we can expect to receive it every summer until the end of time.

Please let your friends know the truth . . . we astronomers can use all the help we can get!