THE FOURTH PLANET FROM THE SUN!
DEAN: WELCOME TO STAR GAZERS!
I'M DEAN REGAS, ASTRONOMER FROM THE CINCINATTI OBSERVATORY.
JAMES: AND I'M JAMES ALBURY, DIRECTOR OF THE KIKA
SILVA PLA PLANETARIUM IN GAINESVILLE, FLORIDA.
LAST MONTH ON JUNE 27TH,
SATURN AND THE MOON HAD A COZY CONJUNCTION ON THE SAME DAY THAT SATURN WAS AT ITS CLOSEST
APPROACH TO THE EARTH.
DEAN: WELL THIS MONTH,
ALSO ON THE 27TH, WE HAVE ANOTHER PAIRING OF THE MOON AND A
PLANET.
THIS TIME, ITS THE FOURTH PLANET FROM THE SUN.
THE EVER POPULAR AND ANGRY RED PLANET, MARS.
JAMES: SPEAKING OF ANGRY,
I'M A LITTLE BE UPSET ABOUT THIS PAIRING.
DEAN: WHY SO, JAMES?
JAMES: WELL ON THE SAME DAY THAT THE RED PLANET
IS AT ITS CLOSEST TO US, THE MOON WILL ALSO BE TURNING RED.
DEAN: WAIT, A TOTAL LUNAR ECLIPSE?!
THAT SOUNDS LIKE GREAT NEWS!
JAMES: NORMALLY IT WOULD BE, BUT BECAUSE OF THE TIMING
OF THE ECLIPSE, ALL OF US IN NORTH AMERICA WILL BE ON THE DAYTIME SIDE OF
THE EARTH, SO WE WON'T
GET TO SEE THE ECLIPSE.
DEAN: OH MAN!
THATS DISAPPOINTING.
JAMES: I KNOW, RIGHT?
DEAN: WAIT A SECOND!
HERE'S AN IDEA!
ALL YOU'D HAVE TO DO IS GO ON VACATION TO EITHER EUROPE, AFRICA
OR WESTERN ASIA.
THEN YOU'LL BE ABLE TO SEE IT!
JAMES: EXACTLY!
BUT YOU SEE, MY STAR GAZERS SKY CAR HAS IT'S SCHEDULED
ANNUAL MAINTENANCE THAT DAY, SO I WON'T BE GOING ANYWHERE.
DEAN: MAN, IT'S ROUGH
TO BE YOU.
WELL, LET'S CHECK OUT THE SKY ON JULY 27TH FROM THE UNITED STATES.
JAMES: MARS HAS FASCINATED ASTRONOMERS FOR CENTURIES;
ESPECIALLY WHEN IT CAME TO IT'S PECULIAR MOVEMENT, BRIGHTNESS AND COLOR CHANGES.
DEAN: EVERY 26 MONTHS OR SO, MARS GOES FROM A PALE
ORANGISH-YELLOW TO A BRIGHT ORANGISH-RED.
MARS GOT IT'S NAME BECAUSE ITS RED COLOR REMINDED THE ANCIENT ROMANS OF BLOOD,
WAR AND VIOLENCE.
SO, THEY NAMED IT AFTER THEIR GOD OF WAR.
JAMES: SO, EVERY 26 MONTHS, THE BRIGHTENING OF MARS
REMINDED PEOPLE OF THIS CELESTIAL CONNECTION WITH THE GOD OF WAR,
AND THEY CAME TO EXPECT THE UNLEASHING OF WAR, REVOLUTIONS, DISASTERS AND DEATH.
DEAN: BUT WHY DOES MARS CHANGE COLOR,
SIZE AND BRIGHTNESS EVERY 26 MONTHS?
LET'S FIND OUT!
JAMES: IF WE VIEW OUR
SOLAR SYSTEM FROM HIGH ABOVE THE SUN, WE CAN SEE THE ORBITS OF BOTH EARTH
AND MARS.
EARTH TAKES A LITTLE MORE THAN 365 DAYS TO ORBIT THE SUN,
WHILE MARS TAKES ALMOST 687 DAYS.
WHEN MARS AND EARTH ARE AT THEIR CLOSEST TO EACH OTHER,
MARS IS SAID TO BE AT OPPOSITION.
WHEN A PLANET IS AT OPPOSITION, ITS EXACTLY ON THE OPPOSITE SIDE OF THE SKY
FROM THE SUN.
DEAN: THE TRICKY PART ABOUT MARTIAN OPPOSITIONS
IS THAT THEY ARE NOT ALL CREATED EQUAL.
FOR EXAMPLE, THE MARTIAN OPPOSITION OF AUGUST 2003 WAS
ONE OF THE CLOSEST OPPOSITIONS IN RECORDED HISTORY, WHERE EARTH AND MARS WERE ONLY 34.6
MILLION MILES APART.
JAMES: COMPARE THAT TO THE OPPOSITION OF MARCH 2012
WHEN MARS WAS A WHOPPING 62.6 MILLION MILES FROM EARTH.
THE REASON THAT MARS DISTANCE VARIES SO MUCH, IS BECAUSE OF THE SHAPE OF MARS ORBIT.
DEAN: JOHANNES KEPLER DEMONSTRATED THAT PLANETARY
ORBITS ARE NOT PERFECT CIRCLES, BUT A SHAPE CALLED AN ELLIPSE.
MARS ORBIT IS MORE ELLIPTICAL THAN EARTHS, SO THERE ARE TIMES WHEN MARS IS MUCH CLOSER
TO THE SUN THAN OTHERS.
JAMES: WHEN A PLANET IS AT ITS CLOSEST TO THE SUN,
WE CALL THAT PERIHELION.
THE PERIHELION POINT FOR MARS LIES IN THE CONSTELLATION AQUARIUS.
THE POINT WHEN A PLANET IS FARTHEST FROM THE SUN IS CALLED APHELION,
AND FOR MARS, THAT POINT IS IN LEO THE LION.
DEAN: PERIHELION AND APHELION ARE ON OPPOSITE SIDES
OF A PLANETS ORBIT AND AS A RESULT ARE ON OPPOSITE SIDES OF THE SKY.
SO, IF YOU LOOK AT THE ZODIAC, WHAT CONSTELLATION IS ON THE OPPOSITE OF THE
SKY FROM LEO THE LION?
JAMES: TA-DA!
ITS AQUARIUS!
SO IF THE SUN IS IN LEO AND MARS IS IN OR NEAR AQUARIUS,
AS IT IS THIS YEAR, YOU GET A CLOSE AND BRIGHT OPPOSITION,
BUT SWITCH IT AROUND AND IF THE SUN IS IN AQUARIUS AND MARS
IS IN LEO, YOU GET A DISTANT AND FAINT OPPOSITION.
JAMES: SO GET OUTSIDE ON FRIDAY NIGHT,
JULY 27TH, 2018, AND GET THE BEST VIEW OF MARS WE'VE HAD SINCE
2003.
DEAN: AND IF YOU HAPPEN TO BE VACATIONING IN EUROPE
OR AFRICA THAT DAY, CHECK OUT THE TOTAL LUNAR ECLIPSE AS WELL!
BOTH: KEEP LOOKING UP!