Will Mars Really Appear To Be As Close As The Moon Tonight?

Story short, no. However ...

Over the last couple of days I have been seeing a lot of friends sharing articles stating that tonight "Mars will appear to be as close to earth as the moon" and if you were wondering if this is an accurate statement or fake news the answer is ... it's fake news.

However, there is some really cool stuff going on in the sky tonight! Today a 'Blood Moon' Eclipse went down cross the pond according to CNS News:

The longest "blood moon" eclipse in this century will coincide with Mars' closest approach to Earth in 15 years to offer skygazers a thrilling astronomical double bill

While the Lunar 'Blood Moon" eclipse wasn't visible on our side of the globe the moon will still look pretty phenomenal tonight. I found myself getting distracted by it's glory on my drive home last night and had to check myself and make a point to stop looking up at until I got home which was hard since it was literally lighting my way and I was driving right into it.

Although here in the states we miss the eclipse there is yet another really cool thing happening in the sky, tonight Mars is in opposition;

This summer, opposition occurs on July 27, and Mars will reach its closest approach to Earth at 3:50 a.m. EDT (0750 GMT) on July 31. The Red Planet will also be at its brightest since 2003, when Mars made its closest approach to Earth in almost 60,000 years.

Which means for like the next week we should be able to see mars in the sky with the naked eye of course a telescope or binoculars could give you a better view. Astronomers say it will look like the brightest star in the sky this week. If Mars was to indeed  look as close to Earth as the Moon that would probably mean we needed to start implementing those last day on Earth checklists.

Still though once night falls over the next couple of days make sure to take a look at the sky and revel in it's beauty.