Tonight, and for the next few nights, Mars will be very near to the earth, relatively speaking... a mere 60 million miles away. For amateur astronomers, it won't get any better than this for more than five years. Unfortunately, the forecast tonight in my neck of the woods is below zero, not the most thrilling for setting up a telescope and standing outside. (Six below right this sec and feels like -22.) But the sky is clear and Mars will be on display at its brilliant best if you know where to look. The only things brighter from our vantage point are Venus, the Moon and the Sun... and Jupiter most of the time.
Many websites have info on this week's event. Wired.com has a good collection of links, too, not only to Mars photos, but to other collections of images by astrophotographers. And for rank beginners this site will help you locate our red buddy with it polar ice caps, craters, valleys and deserts.
For more info on our near-Mars experience, start here.
For something a little different, a lesson for Earthlings, read Peter Opack's lament, The Empty Skies of Mars.
For something a little different, a lesson for Earthlings, read Peter Opack's lament, The Empty Skies of Mars.
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