Did you get the Mars email?  The one going on about how Mars would be closer to the Earth than at any time in the past 60,000 years?  And how it would be as big as the full Moon?  Don’t worry, if you haven’t you probably will before much longer.  Here’s the scoop on the facts of the matter, from a real authority, Neil deGrasse Tyson.

From:The Haden Planetarium
by Neil deGrasse Tyson, 1 August 2010
Nearly everyone I know has received an e-mail about Mars from an anonymous source, but sent to them by friends who could not resist forwarding the message to their entire address book. The e-mail declares that toward the end of August, the planet Mars will be closer to Earth than it has in the past 60,000 years, thereby offering spectacular views of the Red Planet. The commentary proclaims, with liberal use of exclamation marks, that Mars will appear as bright as (or as large as) the full Moon in the night sky.

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