Stargazers are urging people to help end a decade-long hoax that has plagued inboxes every August with a false astronomical phenomenon.
The "Mars Spectacular" myth started in 2003 when a widely-circulated email claimed the red planet would look as large as the full moon to the naked eye as it neared the earth.
Rehashed versions of the email, which asks readers to forward the information, have reappeared several times over the decade, with the most recent claiming the event will take place on August 27, 2014.
Scitech officer Leon Smith said the closest Mars could get to earth was about 50 million kilometres, but to the naked eye it would still only look marginally brighter and bigger than a star.
Mr Smith said the red planet had its annual close encounter with the earth in April so there was no chance of a super Mars in August.
"If you go out and watch the planets every night you'll notice quite a difference over the course of six months," Mr Smith said.
"But if you just go out on one night and look at it you'll wonder what all the excitement was about.
"It's bigger and brighter than usually but it's definitely not a full moon or anything like that."
Mr Smith said the appeal of a once in a lifetime look at a moon-sized Mars had probably kept the hoax alive but urged people not to pass on the hoax.
NASA tried to dispel the Mars myth in 2005, saying if the planet did come close enough to rival the moon, its gravity would alter the earth's orbit and raise terrible tides.
A WA Consumer Protection spokesman said people shouldn't forward on spam emails because they could disclose email addresses and contain malware or links to malicious or inappropriate material.
Share
