No, Mars Won't Be As Big as the Moon in the Sky Tonight

Sorry, skywatchers: Despite what you may have heard, Mars won't look as big as the moon overhead tonight (Aug. 27). The unknown sender of that message was trying to get people excited about an unusually close approach of Mars to Earth in late August 2003. "The encounter will culminate on Aug. 27 when Mars comes to within 34,649,589 miles (55,763,108 kilometers) of Earth and will be (next to the moon) the brightest object in the night sky," one paragraph of the email reads.