From: Linda Shore (lindas@exploratorium.edu)
Date: Tue Aug 19 2003 - 10:03:51 PDT
Message-ID: <3F425876.4A6A4822@exploratorium.edu> Date: Tue, 19 Aug 2003 10:03:51 -0700 From: Linda Shore <lindas@exploratorium.edu> Subject: Mars Viewing
Hi Ti-er's
Here is a very nice overview on Mars and why the big fuss about it right
now. Your students will also enjoy this.
It was written by Andrew Fraknoi of the Astronomical Society of the
Pacific.
Enjoy!
Cheers
Linda Shore
An Information Sheet by Andrew Fraknoi (Foothill College)
1. What’s All This Excitement About Mars?
In the last half of August and first half of September, Mars
will
be closer and thus brighter than usual in our skies, and visible for
most
of the night. And on the night of August 26-27, Mars will actually be
closer to the Earth than it has been in about 60,000 years (the last
time
it was this close was 57,617 BCE -- which was a little before my time,
and
yours too probably!) Even at this closest approach, however, Mars will
still be about 35 million miles away.
2. How Easy Will Mars Be to See for the Average Person?
Mars should be easy to spot for weeks, a brilliant reddish dot
in
the sky. At closest approach it will be the brightest object in the
night
sky (other than the Moon.) But seen with the naked eye, it will still
just
be a dot. To see details, you will need a reasonably good telescope.
Many
colleges, planetaria, observatories, and amateur astronomy clubs with
good
telescopes will be holding special Mars viewing events. Contact the one
nearest you for specific schedules.
Because there will be lots of media hype about Mars, I want to
emphasize that you should not expect to see the kinds of views we get
from
the Hubble Space Telescope or missions that fly by the planet. With
moderate-size telescopes, from the surface of the Earth, with the air
dancing and shimmering, you’ll most likely just see a small, fuzzy,
orange
ball, with few features. (The polar ice caps will probably be the
easiest
things to spot.) Still, you’ll never have a better chance to take a look
at
a planet that has always fascinated humanity.
3. When and Where Should We Look for Mars in the Sky?
In the first half of August, Mars rises in the east-southeast
around 10 pm (local daylight savings time) and then can be seen somewhat
higher as it moves with the turning sky toward the south and southwest.
In
the second half of August, it will rise by roughly 9 pm, while in early
September it will already be rising at dusk. Since Mars is low in the
sky
in the evenings, you may need to get to a higher location to see it
before
the kids go to bed, if you have hills or buildings toward the
east-southeast. Or if you get up early in the morning, catch it toward
the
west-southwest before dawn. (And bear in mind that Mars does not need to
be
seen at exactly the day of closest approach; a week or two before or
after
August 27 is just about as good.)
4. What If We Miss it This Time?
There is no reason to miss finding Mars in the sky, since you
have
many weeks to see it. But if you don’t get a telescopic view this time,
you can catch another close approach in October 2005 (although the one
in
2003 will be better).
5. What Do I Tell the Kids about Mars?
The red planet Mars is of great interest to us not only because
it
is a close neighbor in space, but also because there is growing evidence
that, billions of years ago, there was abundant liquid water on its
surface
(and thicker air than today). It could have been a place where life
began
independent of planet Earth, although such life is unlikely to have
survived in the cold dry Mars environment we see today. In any case,
since
our other planet neighbor, Venus, is a hellish place with temperatures
hotter than the cleaning cycle of your oven, Mars is the most likely
planet
on whose surface humanity will someday set up bases or have tourism.
6. What are Scientists Doing about this Close Approach?
Lots of telescopes, including the Hubble, will take images of
Mars, but these days, Mars is best observed from robot spacecraft that
land
or go into orbit. Such craft are now being launched about every 2 years,
each time Mars is closer. Several have been launched this time,
including
NASA’s Mars Exploration Rovers, the European Space Agency’s Mars
Express,
and the Japanese Nozomi. These will begin to orbit Mars or land in
December
2003/January 2004.
7. Where Can I Learn More about Mars on the Web?
Mars in the Sky: http://SkyandTelescope.com/observing/objects/planets
Best Mars (and other planet) Pictures: http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov
The Nine Planets Site: http://www.nineplanets.org/mars.html
Views of the Solar System Site: http://www.solarviews.com/eng/mars.htm
NASA Mars Missions: http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov OR
http://cmex-www.arc.nasa.gov
Astronomy Education Resources (in general):
http://www.astrosociety.org/education.html
FUN MARS FACTS:
· Mars is only about half the size of Earth; but since it has no
oceans, the exposed land area on the two planets turns out to be roughly
the same.
· Mars takes almost the same time to spin as Earth (about 24
hours),
but takes 687 Earth days to go around the Sun. (In other words, Mars’
day
is about the same, but its year is longer.)
· Mars has the tallest volcano in the solar system; its Mount
Olympus
is about 13 miles high, more than twice the height of Earth’s Mount
Everest.
· Mars has two tiny moons, Phobos & Deimos, that are probably
captured asteroids.
· On Mars, the air so thin, your blood would actually boil
(without a
pressure suit). And your first deep breath would likely be your last
deep
breath (the air is mostly carbon dioxide.)
Addendum: What’s Happening in the San Francisco Bay Area?
Larger telescopes for viewing Mars are available at the Chabot
Observatory in Oakland and Foothill College in Los Altos Hills, among
other
places.
A complete list of local viewing opportunities and “Mars
parties”
is kept at the web site: http://www.whiteoaks.com/jane/Mars/ (From here
you can link to other Mars observing sites.)
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