Mohawk valley astronomical society
mars returns by carol higgins
October brings jack-o-lanterns and beautiful autumn leaves that decorate the Mohawk Valley with vibrant shades of yellow, orange, red, and green. This year, we can also look forward to welcoming the return of one of our nearby celestial neighbors to our night sky – planet Mars is back! Mars will rise in the eastern sky after sunset and move toward the west during the night. Its striking orange-red color easily distinguishes it from stars and other objects. Mars is at its brightest on October 8, when Earth and Mars are “only” 38.5 million apart due to the elliptical orbits of the two planets (250 million miles away at its furthest point). In fact, all month it shines brighter than Jupiter. The next time Mars is this close is September 2035. There are significant differences between Earth and Mars. The Red Planet is 4,220 miles in diameter, while Earth is almost twice its size at 7,926 miles across. There are 687 days in a Martian year, and 24 hours and 37 minutes in a day. The planet has two small and heavily cratered moons named Phobos and Deimos. Oblong shaped Phobos (17 miles long by 14 miles wide) is often compared to a potato and zooms around Mars three times every day at only 3,700 miles above the surface. Smaller Deimos is only 9 by 7 miles and takes 30 hours for one orbital trip. Mars is a rocky planet with a cratered surface covered with fine dust containing iron minerals that have rusted, giving Mars its famous red color. It has polar ice caps,
dunes, mountains and valleys, large dry lake beds, and rocks and minerals that provide evidence of a watery past. It is home to the largest extinct volcano and the largest canyon in the Solar System. The Olympus Mons volcano is almost 400 miles wide and 16 miles high. The four-mile deep Valles Marineris canyon is over Hanny’s Voorwerp. Image Credit: NASA, ESA, W. Keel, Galaxy Zoo Team 2,500 miles long and could reach from coast to coast in the United Mars, image by Viking Orbiter States. Credit: NASA/JPL/USGS Human visitors will definitely need a spacesuit. Earth’s atmosphere contains 78 percent nitroMars missions. Two orbiting spacecraft gen and 21 percent oxygen plus a few carry onboard instruments and cameras to other gases, while the Martian atmosphere monitor climate and terrain. The InSight has a whopping 96 percent carbon dioxide lander studies the planet’s interior, seismic and small quantities of argon, nitrogen, events, and weather including temperaoxygen, and other gases. ture and wind, while the Curiosity rover That thin atmosphere results in temexplores Mount Sharp in Gale Crater. peratures ranging from 70 degrees to Launched in July, the Perseverance rover minus 225 degrees Fahrenheit and gives will land in February 2021. the planet four seasons, clouds, dust dev Thanks to these NASA robotic explorils, and winds. The winds can lift the fine ers and several spacecraft sent by other surface materials and create dust storms international space agencies, we have – some that encircle the planet for weeks learned about current water ice at the poles as we witnessed in 2018 when the solar and below the surface, the planet’s evolupanels that powered NASA’s Opportunity tion, and continue to gather data to help rover were covered with dust. When the us prepare for future human missions to storm was over the rover was unable to Mars. So take a few moments to enjoy incharge its batteries, ending its almost 15teresting Mars this month; you can see the year extremely successful mission. Not southern polar ice cap with a telescope! bad for a rover that was expected to oper Wishing you clear skies and good ate for 90 days! health! • NASA currently has several active
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Town of Webb Historical Association
Headquarters of the Town of Webb Historical Association
