On the Astronomy Show today I will be looking at the red planet which is now at its closest to the Earth since 2003 and is visible as a very bright red 'star' low in the sky at around midnight, but Mars is also in the news because of the discovery of a lake of water just below the surface at the south pole of Mars. What could this mean for future exploration of the red planet?
The night sky this summer has been fantastic for looking at the bright planets but things are now changing, Venus is very low in the sky in the west just visible after sunset with Jupiter also dropping very quickly in the south west as well. While Mars and Saturn can be seen in the south, unfortunately they are both are very low in the sky and can be seen around midnight. The summer triangle stars Altair, Deneb and Vega are all at their highest and with the Milky Way overhead there are lots to see in the night sky this week.
Other regular features include looking at some of the astronomy news stories this week including trying to discover which is the largest star and how the edge of space just got closer according to astronomers. The A-Z of constellations is now at Puppis the Stern while the Messier marathon is at M70, we are still in globular cluster alley in Sagittarius. The astronomical scrapbook looking back at anniversaries this week includes Ranger 7 hitting the Moon, Caroline Herschel discovered her first comet and the definition of time bill passed in the house of Lords. There will be the usual round up of activity in the astronomical societies in the north of England.
The Astronomy Show only on Drystone Radio 103.5 FM every Wednesday afternoon between 3.00 pm and 5.00 pm. You can also hear the show live on line at www.drystoneradio.com or catch the show later on the Drystone Radio podcast.
No comments:
Post a Comment