Will Mars really appear to be the same size as the Moon next month in August?

No, it's a sham. This things been going on for years, sending out mass e-mails saying that Mars will look to be about the size of the moon.

Mars is currently a tiny dot in the night sky. If it ever got close enough to go from tiny dot to moon-sized dot, we'd be utterly screwed.

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 75x 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've been fooled by this fake email in 2010! 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, January 2010, etc.

The facts: in August 2010, Mars will be very far away from the Earth. Even when it next gets close, in March 2012, it will still be twice as far away as it was in August 2003. And even then, it was only 1/75 the size of the Moon.

No. That E-mail hoax started when Mars was unusually close to Earth in 2003, but even then it just looked like a bright star. Mars never does and never could come close enough to Earth to appear as large as the Moon in the sky, and Mars is actually far on the other side of the Sun in it's orbit this August. That fact doesn't prevent this E-mail hoax from re-appearing every August though.

All that talk of closeness is relative. It is like saying now the distance from my place to New York got reduced by half a centimetre. But what you imply is that I am able to see 'Manhattan' out of my window (in Hyderabad). Ridiculous.

I'm surprised that none reacted to you when you claim (or rather somebody) that it'd be " M o o n ' s " size. It can never ever happen with Mars. For that Mars should move to a spot that is double the distance of Moon (being double in diameter), leaving its orbit around Sun! It should move from a spot 78.6 million km (at its closest approach to Earth) to 770,000 km, a factor of 100. Do you believe it?

No. The fine print in that hoax says that IN A TELESCOPE with sufficient magnification Mars can look as large as the Moon does to the naked eye.

I'm no astronomer, but judging by basic physics, the -extreme- distance of Mars' orbit when compared to Earth's orbit and a touch of common sense...I kinda doubt it.

No, it will not be anywhere near as large looking as the moon that you're used to seeing. It will be 2 arc seconds across which is 1/180th of 1 degree. Still very large and will be visible with the naked eye. With a pair of binoculars or a low powered telescope you should be able to see surface features of the planet.

It seems like they said that last year, i think it was last august if i remember right. i looked at mars every night and saw no difference. who ever comes up with theories needs to find a new profession.

Impossible

Impossible

No, this is a hoax e-mail that circulates every year.