Mars in August.

[3ggman]

So on the 27th of August Mars is going to be as big as the Moon. Ok, so I don't really believe this. However my flatmate came home today and told me that there was a few notices up in the local library saying that Mars was going to be at the brightest its ever been in recorded history at the end of August.

I was puzzlzed to say the least as I thought Mars had been in opposition early this year, in fact I quite clearly remember scraping the ice of my 8" Dob while out viewing it.

Anyway is there any truth in this, a little googling and it all seems to come up as a hoax email flying around, basiclly I don't really want to be the one to tell the library people that its a hoax and disappoint the local kids.

[LukeSkywatcher]

Yep its a hoax. Its been floating around for months.

[dweller25]

Mars is currently a VERY long way from us. I observed it last week in France and whilst I could resolve it as a disk that was all I could do. By the end of August it will be even further away. As Paul says it's just a hoax.

[Talitha]

Do the local kids a favor and tell the people at the library it's a hoax. You're right, Mars was in opposition earlier this year. The opposition referred to was on 27 August 2003, and there's been garbage email floating around about it ever since.

[Gy Stargazer]

I fell into this most evil of traps, so don't worry.

You are not alone.

[neilm]

It's been around so long it even has it's own entry in Wikipedia