Tag Archives: Mars

Skyward: August 2018

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This entry is part 10 of 10 in the series Guest Column

Mighty Mars and the Adirondacks The summer of 2018 featured our fifteenth Adirondack Astronomy Retreat in the Adirondack mountains in upstate New York. It is also the last one that Wendee and I will host. Usually the dark and pristine sky from the AAR, as the retreat is known, provides brilliant walkways amongst the distant stars of the globular star cluster Messier 15, or the spiral arms of a galaxy all but lost in the vacuum of space and the mists of time. But not this year. For the first time in fifteen years, Mars, relatively nearby, shone like a big red traffic light in the sky. All night long in the sky, during this particular summer, Mars ruled the night. The last time Mars looked this good, it was the late summer of 2003. I looked through Obadiah, my six-inch diameter refractor, and I decided that this was by far the best view I have ever had of Mars. … Continue reading →

Possible Subsurface Lake Discovered on Mars

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The European Space Agency’s Mars Express spacecraft has bounced radar signals through underground layers of ice and found evidence of a pond of water buried beneath Mars’ south polar cap. Observations of the Planum Australe region at Mars’ south pole were made between 2012 and 2015 using the Mars Advanced Radar for Subsurface and Ionosphere Sounding instrument (MARSIS); MARSIS is the first radar sounder ever to orbit another planet. Ground-penetrating radar works by sending pulses at the surface and timing how long the reflected signals take to return to the spacecraft, and measuring how strong those signals are. The properties of the material beneath the surface influence the returned signal; these data can be used to map the subsurface topography. The MARIS investigation reveals that south polar region of Mars is made of many layers of ice and dust down to a depth of about 1.5 km in the region analyzed for this study. “Analysing the properties of the reflected … Continue reading →

In the Sky This Week – July 24, 2018

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This entry is part 53 of 56 in the series In the Sky This Week

Mars opposition happens this week; several people told me recently that they’ve seen Mars in the southwestern sky during the early morning hours. I find myself looking for Mars almost automatically now. Jupiter, Saturn, Venus and the Moon make sidewalk astronomy almost too easy for the next few days. A friend and I set up our telescopes on a small hill, along a busy road in Calumet Michigan. We had a couple families with children show up and they got to see them all! We got some stunned “WOWs!” – those are always nice. The half-Venus was easy to see in the ‘scopes! The Moon The Moon is a waxing gibbous, visible in the southeastern before sky before dusk, and is visible all night long. The Moon will be full on July 27th, after which it will be a waning gibbous, visible in the southeastern sky after sunset. The Moon will appear VERY near to Saturn on July 24th. The … Continue reading →

In the Sky This Week – July 17, 2018

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This entry is part 52 of 56 in the series In the Sky This Week

As Mars opposition nears, the planet shines bright in the southwestern sky before sunrise. I find myself looking out my back window for Mars every morning after I awake. The waxing crescent Moon joins Venus in the western sky near sunset; Jupiter appears more to the south, and is a great observing target for several hours after sunset. The Moon The Moon is a waxing crescent visible in the western sky around dusk. The Moon will be at first quarter on July 20th, after which it will be a waxing gibbous, visible in the southern sky after sunset. The Moon will be a great observing target all week! The Moon will travel across the southern sky all week; the first quarter Moon will appear close to Jupiter in the south-southwestern sky on July 20th. The waxing gibbous Moon will appear very close to Saturn in the south-southeastern sky on July 24th. Observing Target: M31 – The Andromeda Galaxy M31 – … Continue reading →

In the Sky This Week – July 10, 2018

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This entry is part 51 of 56 in the series In the Sky This Week

Jupiter and Saturn make great observing targets in the southern sky after sunset; Jupiter sets shortly after 1:00 AM. Mars continues to shine ever brighter as opposition with Earth approaches later this month. Saturn sets in the southwest with the sunrise. Venus and Mercury are visible in the western sky after sunset; Venus continues to appear near the star Regulus for the next few days, and Mercury will likely only be visible for a few minutes before setting. The Big Dipper – an asterism in the constellation Ursa Major, is visible in the northern predawn sky. The Moon The Moon is a waning crescent visible in the eastern predawn sky. The Moon will be new on July 13th, after which it will be a waxing crescent in the western sky shortly after sunset. The waning crescent Moon will appear close to the star Aldebaran in the eastern predawn sky on July 10th. A waxing crescent Moon joins Mercury, Venus and … Continue reading →

In the Sky This Week – July 3, 2018

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This entry is part 50 of 56 in the series In the Sky This Week

Bright stars and planets are splashed across the southern sky at midnight; Jupiter and Saturn are both great observing targets all night long! Mars shines bright red in the southern sky before sunrise; Saturn sets in the southwest with the sunrise. Venus continues its vigil in the west as the evening star; you may be able to catch a glimpse of  Mercury shortly after sunset. The star Regulus will appear very near Venus after sunset on July 9th. The Moon The Moon is a waning gibbous heading towards third quarter on July 6th, after which it will be a waning crescent. The waning gibbous Moon will appear in the southern sky with Mars on the 3rd and 4th. A thin waning crescent Moon will appear in the eastern sky with the Pleiades star cluster before sunrise on July 9th. Observing Target: Albireo At the head of Cygnus the swan is Albireo, a star whose name it seems, I will always … Continue reading →

In the Sky This Week – June 26, 2018

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This entry is part 49 of 56 in the series In the Sky This Week

Mars shines like a bright unblinking cinder in the early morning sky; I’m truly astounded at how bright Mars has been getting – and it’s going to continue to brighten until the end of July. This nearing Mars opposition and close approach has been bittersweet for astrophotographers, as the planet is experiencing a global dust storm, and surface features are difficult to resolve. Spirit and Oppy (@MarsRovers) on Twitter: Mars Storm Watch: The dust storm now circles the planet. No signal yet from Opportunity, but no response is expected until skies begin to clear. We continue to listen daily. https://t.co/VwuuPwEpPA pic.twitter.com/8q7lDoezxs — Spirit and Oppy (@MarsRovers) June 20, 2018 The Moon will be between Saturn and the bright star Antares on the evening of June 26th. With each passing evening, the bright star Regulus appears a bit lower in the western sky, and is getting closer to Venus. Next week Regulus and Venus will appear very close together! The Moon … Continue reading →

NASA Space Place: A Close-Up View of Mars

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A Close-Up View of Mars By Jane Houston Jones and Jessica Stoller-Conrad In July 2018, skywatchers can get an up close view of Mars—even without a telescope! In fact, on July 31, Mars will be closer to Earth than it has been in 15 years. Why is that? Like all the planets in our solar system, Earth and Mars orbit the Sun. Earth is closer to the Sun, and therefore it races along its orbit more quickly. Earth makes two trips around the Sun in about the same amount of time that Mars takes to make one trip. Sometimes the two planets are on opposite sides of the Sun and are very far apart. Other times, Earth catches up with its neighbor and passes relatively close to it. This is called Mars’s closest approach to Earth, and it’s happening this year on July 31. The Moon will be near Mars on that night, too! Keep in mind that even during … Continue reading →

Impact on Mars Causes Avalanche

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The HiRISE instrument aboard NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) captured this image of a “relatively new” impact crater (within about a decade) that triggered a slope streak. When the meteoroid impacted on Mars’ surface, the resulting explosion carved out a 5 meter crater, and destabilized the area around the crater, which initiated an avalanche. The slope streak left behind from the avalanche is one kilometer long! Slope streaks are created when dust avalanches leave behind a dark swath on Martian hills. The faded scar of an old avalanche is also visible to the side of the new dark streak. The Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter is in a polar orbit of Mars, continually monitoring the surface and weather conditions of the planet, and acting as a communications relay for current and future missions.The MRO hosts several scientific instruments including: spectrometers, radar and cameras which scientists use to analyze Mars’ land formations, rock strata and stratification, minerals, and ices. Article source: NASA Image Details … Continue reading →

In the Sky This Week – June 19, 2018

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This entry is part 48 of 56 in the series In the Sky This Week

Jupiter, the Moon, and the stars Arcturus and Spica are all in the same region of the southern sky at 10:30 PM on June 20th. Saturn is low in the southeastern sky, and Jupiter is high in the southern sky after sunset. Mars shines bright red in the southern sky early in the morning; Saturn is a bit lower in the sky, and towards the southwest. A waxing crescent Moon joins Venus in the western sky at sunset. Mercury also makes an appearance low in the western sky – a brief few moments before sunset. Mercury will continue to brighten as it climbs towards Venus until July 1st, after which it will start to descend towards the horizon, vanishing around end of July. The Moon The Moon is a waxing crescent and will be at first quarter on June 20th; the Moon will then be a waxing gibbous. This will be a great week for observing the Moon near sunset! … Continue reading →

In the Sky This Week – June 12, 2018

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This entry is part 47 of 56 in the series In the Sky This Week

Mars and Saturn are visible in the southern sky before sunrise. Mars is getting larger in telescopes as we near opposition with the planet at the end of July. Jupiter remains near the double-star Zubenelgenubi II (Alpha Librae) in the southern sky after sunset on June 12th. Venus is almost aligned with the stars Pollux and Castor shortly after sunset on June 12th. The Moon The Moon is a waning crescent and will be new on June 13th. The Moon will be a waxing crescent after the 13th, visible in the western sky near sunset. Observing Target: NCG 6910 I found this gem while scanning around the constellation Cygnus with my 8 inch Dobsonian telescope. NGC 6910, also known as the Inchworm Cluster, is an open star cluster near the star Sadr in Cygnus. In small telescopes, NGC 6910 appears (kinda) like a three-armed starfish. Time exposures of the cluster reveal the rich nebulosity of emission nebula IC 1316, that the cluster … Continue reading →

NASA Finds Ancient Organic Material, Mysterious Methane on Mars

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NASA’s Curiosity rover has found new evidence preserved in rocks on Mars that suggests the planet could have supported ancient life, as well as new evidence in the Martian atmosphere that relates to the search for current life on the Red Planet. While not necessarily evidence of life itself, these findings are a good sign for future missions exploring the planet’s surface and subsurface. The new findings — “tough” organic molecules in 3-billion-year-old sedimentary rocks near the surface, as well as seasonal variations in the levels of methane in the atmosphere — appear in the June 8 edition of the journal Science. Organic molecules contain carbon and hydrogen, and also may include oxygen, nitrogen and other elements. While commonly associated with life, organic molecules also can be created by non-biological processes and are not necessarily indicators of life. “Are there signs of life on Mars? We don’t know, but these results tell us we are on the right track.” – … Continue reading →