Tom Sierszenski's blog

Has anybody heard anyone saying that tonight Mars will appear as big as the moon to the naked eye?  The past couple weeks I've been encountering people everywhere who think this!   Where did this idea come from?  I think I might have offended some people by my response to them telling me this...  I'm not trying to be rude, I just can't believe how this little piece of misinterpreted information has spread around to everyone.  I thought it was common knowledge that this was impossible!  Someone somewhere has misunderstood something in an astronomy magazine and it's spread like wildfire!  read more »