Audio Script
A close, neighborly visit from Mars
May 27, 2016听听听听听听听听听听听 Matt Benjamin
Come Memorial Day our neighbor planet Mars will only be 47 million miles from Earth - the closest it鈥檚 been to our planet in 11 years. Granted, that鈥檚 still far away but sometimes Mars is almost 250 million miles from Earth. Being this close to Earth is due to a unique set of circumstances, says Matt Benjamin, education programs manager at CU-麻豆影院鈥檚 Fiske Planetarium.
CUT 1 鈥淎ll the planets go around the sun and we get into alignments called 鈥榦pposition鈥� and this is when planets align with each other. And because Mars has a slightly elliptical orbit is not always closest to us when it鈥檚 at opposition. (:16) And so these elements have to sort of line up. We have to be near Mars in our orbit and Mars also has to be at one of its closest places in its own orbit. Those two dynamics allow for this particular opposition to be the closest we鈥檝e had in 11 years.鈥� (:31)
Benjamin says people also will be treated to something special when looking towards Mars. Right after sunset next to each other will appear the planet Saturn and the red star Antares, which he says is sometimes mistaken for Mars.
CUT 2 鈥淒on鈥檛 get fooled because in the vicinity of Mars is the red star Antares. So be on the lookout - a nice little trifecta of objects that are in the sky all together but don鈥檛 be fooled by Antares. Look for the one a little bit east and perhaps a little bit brighter and that in deed will be the planet Mars.鈥� (:17)
Benjamin adds that Anteras has a unique story behind it.
CUT 3 鈥淚t鈥檚 named Antares for what it is not. This star was named for not being Mars. Because it鈥檚 red like Mars it was named for not Aries, the god of war, which we know as Mars. (:12) So it鈥檚 called 鈥楢ntares,鈥� not Mars. So very interesting that we have a star named for what it is not, rather than what it is. And these interlopers cross each other鈥檚 paths every few years.鈥� (:22)
But unlike a 鈥淪uper Moon鈥� when it鈥檚 closest to Earth and appears very large in the night sky, Benjamin says Mars will not appear larger to the naked eye than usual. But he says, if you have a telescope or if you鈥檙e in the Denver-麻豆影院 area and can get to the Somers-Bosch Observatory at CU-麻豆影院 for open house viewing held on Friday nights then you will be treated to the 鈥淩ed Planet鈥� in detail.
CUT 4 鈥淎nytime this week or even in to next week is a good time to view Mars at this close approach. And go to the Somers-Bosch Observatory located directly behind Fiske Planetarium. They have open viewing and open house on Friday evenings. (:15) There will be astronomers there to lead you on a journey of the night sky. You might have to wait a little bit later in the evening when Mars rises high in the sky then you have a good chance to view the red planet through the telescopes. You might be lucky enough to see the polar ice caps on Mars - see some features that you鈥檝e never seen with your eyes before.鈥� (:31)
Benjamin says the best time to view Mars will be an hour or so after sunset. He says to look east and to the south to view it as it rises in the night sky.
-CU-