Last month most people were franticly running around trying to
get a good glimpse of Mars before Aug. 27 would come and go. For
that was the date that the Red Planet was to be the closest to our
Earth in some 60,000 years.
Well slow down. You haven’t missed it all yet. If you did indeed
get a good look at the show Mars put on last month, or you missed
it all together, there is still time to enjoy it again or even for
the first time this month.
Last month most people were franticly running around trying to get a good glimpse of Mars before Aug. 27 would come and go. For that was the date that the Red Planet was to be the closest to our Earth in some 60,000 years.
Well slow down. You haven’t missed it all yet. If you did indeed get a good look at the show Mars put on last month, or you missed it all together, there is still time to enjoy it again or even for the first time this month.
Yes, the Earth has passed Mars now and is speeding away from it, but you still have time to see the wonders it has to offer this month. Depending on what size telescope you are looking through, you still can pick out the southern polar ice cap, and many other land markings. No, I don’t think you will be able to see any canals. But sometimes people see what they want to see, such as astronomer Percival Lowell did back in the 30’s when he was adamant about his discovery of life on Mars based on the fact he saw water canals that could only have been made by some intelligent life form.
Well, that stirred everyone up for awhile. But now we know better, with our huge telescopes and the many unmanned excursions to the planet with close-up shots of the canal-less planet all but eliminated the possibility of any kind of life as we know it. But who knows what we will find when we finally do step foot on the Red Planet. Stay tuned.
So you still haven’t seen Mars through a telescope yet and are wondering where you can go to do so. We are vary fortunate here in San Benito County to have one of the nicest optics around. We are all familiar with Fremont Peak. Well, at the top of this 3000-foot mountain lies the Fremont Peak Observatory opened in 1986 and has been open every summer since. Devoted astronomers maintain the observatory and the 30″ telescope, contributing time, energy and money to keep Fremont Peak Observatory one of the finest amateur operated astronomy centers in the United States.
Fremont Peak Observatory is open to the public for viewing and educational programs from April through October. They are held on Saturday evenings that don’t include a full moon. On Aug. 23, we had over 300 visitors to see Mars. What is an added bonus are the many other telescopes set up by amateur astronomers at the site giving one other looks at the evening skies I didn’t get home until 3 a.m. that morning.
This month the observatory will be open on Sept. 6, which will include a noon Solar viewing as well as the evening viewing, the 21st and the 28th both evening viewings. Try to get there as early as you can because the “Mars Mania” is still in effect. If you would like to sit in on the educational lecture be sure to be there by 8pm. Parking is limited with a $3.00 charge for the evening.
Constellation of the Month
High in the summer sky are three very bright stars that form what is known as the Summer Triangle, Altair, Vega and Deneb. Each one of these stars is located in a different constellation, which will be our Constellations of the Month.
Altair is Arabic for “the flying one” which is located in the constellation Aquila, the Eagle. Altair is the eagle’s eye, flanked by two other stars which are his beak and crest. The eagle is flying north along the Milky Way but moving over as to avoid collision with Cygnus, the Swan.
Vega, which is the brightest star of the three in the triangle, is in the constellation Lyra, the harp. Lyra is much smaller than the other two and just outside the Milky Way. Besides Vega you will see four smaller stars that form a rectangle, and one other star just west of Vega called Epsilon Lyrae. It is also known as the “Double Double Star.” If you look at it in a telescope, it turns out to be two stars. In a larger telescope, each of these turns out to be two stars. Therefore the double double.
Deneb means, “tail” in Arabic. It is the tail in the constellation Cygnus (which is “swan” in Latin). The swan has a long neck, stretched out as he flies down the middle of the Milky Way. The two stars forming the wings give a cross shape and that is why it is sometimes called the “Northern Cross.”
The star at the swan’s head is called Albireo. This is one of the most beautiful double stars in the sky, because the colors of the stars contrast so well, one blue, the other yellow. Cygnus is another one of my favorite constellations, not just because it has some of the most gorgeous objects to view, but I guess it is because I raise swans, real ones, right next to my own small observatory in my back yard.
