That "Mars the size of the moon" email circling the Internet is crapola.

It is impossible for Mars to appear as large as the moon from the earth. Think about it: the moon is one-sixth the diameter of Earth, Mars about one-third. The moon is about a quarter million miles away, Mars averages about 46 million miles away. To appear to be the size of the moon, Mars would have to be within about half a million miles of the earth. Mars' closest approach this year is still 43 million miles away - how the hell could it appear to be the size of the moon? It can't.

Fact: This year's close approach (conjunction) means Mars will look a bit brighter than usual, but not closer than it routinely does.

Fact: That "34.65 million mile" conjuction mentioned in the oft-forwarded and incorrect email was in 2003; this years' will be about 43 million miles.

Fact: On 24 August Mars will be near the lower right edge of a waning gibbous moon; look for a bright yellow-red dot - that will be Mars. Whoopee.

Fact: The difference in apparent size between the moon and Mars? The full moon covers about 1,800 arc seconds of sky, Mars about 20 arc seconds; Mars will be about 1/90th the size of a full moon. Again, whoopee. A pretty far cry from the "two moons"  in our sky touted in that email.

Fact: The next time Mars will appear like this is in 2018, not 2287.

Fact: At it's very brightest this year, 29 October to 9 November, the apparent magnitude ("brightness") of Mars will still be -2.4, inferior to that of the routine brilliance of Venus.

And you can believe me because I never lie and I'm always right.