Latest Astronomy on Mars Stories
Mars joins the Perseid meteor shower for a beautiful display on August 12th.NASA -- Got a calendar? Circle this date: Friday, August 12th. Next to the circle write "before sunrise" and "Meteors!" Attach all of the above to your refrigerator in plain view so you won't miss the 2005 Perseid meteor shower. The Perseids come every year, beginning in late July and stretching into August. Sky watchers outdoors at the right time can see colorful fireballs, occasional outbursts...
SpaceWeather.com -- The eta Aquarid meteor shower peaks on May 5th and 6th. The best time to look, no matter where you live, is during the hours before local sunrise on both days.This is mainly a southern hemisphere shower, but northern observers can see it, too. In the United States, for example, observers far from city lights might see 5 to 10 meteors per hour. In Australia or South America, rates are better, between 15 and 60 meteors per hour.This year (2005) the eta Aquarid meteors will...
Viewing both the inner and outer planets with a telescope may promise some of the best views during January, particularly as the Saturn-Earth distance closes near the scheduled January 14th descent of the Huygens probe towards the surface of Titan.Astrobiology Magazine -- The highlight of January will be the planet Saturn, which will be opposite the sun as seen from Earth on Jan. 13. On that night Saturn will therefore be closest to us in its orbit, rising in the east at dusk and shining all...
It may seem strange now, but in June, the sun didn't set until 8:45 p.m. It's six months later, and the sun sinks below the horizon shortly after 5 p.m. Our number of daylight hours clearly has shrunk. On the first day of summer, it reached its annual maximum for Roanoke at 14 hours 44 minutes. In just three weeks from now on Dec. 21, it will have dropped to only 9 hours 35 minutes, our annual minimum. The noonday sun is much lower in the sky than it was several months ago and casts long...
Latest Astronomy on Mars Reference Libraries
Positional Astronomy -- Positional astronomy is the study of the positions of celestial objects. This is the oldest branch of astronomy and dates back to antiquity. Observations of celestial objects are important for religious and astrological purposes, as well as for timekeeping. Ancient structures associated with positional astronomy include: -- Chichn Itz -- The Medicine Wheel -- The Pyramids -- Stonehenge -- The Temple of the Sun The unaided human eye can...
Perseids Meteor Shower -- Like most meteor showers, the Perseids are caused by comet debris. As comets enter the inner solar system, they are warmed by the sun and peppered by the solar wind, which produces the familar tails that stretch across the night sky when a bright comet is close to Earth. Comet tails are made of tiny pieces of ice, dust, and rock which are spewed into interplanetary space as they bubble off the comet's nucleus. When Earth encounters these particles on its...
The Moon -- The Moon is the largest satellite of the Earth, and is occasionally called Luna (Latin for moon) to distinguish it from the general use of the word "moon". The Moon is distinguished from the satellites of other planets by its initial capital letter; the other moons are described in the natural satellite article. The words moon and month come from the same Old English root word. The Moon makes a complete orbit of the celestial sphere about every four weeks. Each hour the...
The Planet Mars -- in astronomy, 4th planet from the sun, with an orbit next in order beyond that of the earth. Physical Characteristics Mars has a striking red appearance, and in its most favorable position for viewing, when it is opposite the sun, it is twice as bright as Sirius, the brightest star. Mars has a diameter of 4,200 mi (6,800 km), just over half the diameter of the earth, and its mass is only 11% of the earth's mass. The planet has a very thin atmosphere consisting...
Mars' Moon Phobos -- in astronomy, innermost moon, or natural satellite, of Mars. Phobos orbits Mars at a distance of only 9,378 km (5,627 mi), closer to its planet than any other moon in the solar system. In fact, it is so close that the force of Mars's gravity is stronger than the force keeping the moon in its orbit, so the radius of Phobos's orbit is decreasing at the rate of about 1.8 m (about 6 ft) per century. In 40 million years, Phobos will either break apart into a ring...
![Rock Target \](/media/gallery/mars-exploration-rover-opportunity/thumbs/thumbs_pia16930_sol3262b_p2579_l257f.jpg "Rock Target \")
![Sky Gets Dustier Between Opportunity\](/media/gallery/mars-exploration-rover-opportunity/thumbs/thumbs_pia16814-sols3296and3301-hazcams.jpg "Sky Gets Dustier Between Opportunity\")
