Saturday: Has
there ever been life on Mars? Astronomers don’t know. But the Mars Curiosity
Rover has been digging up some strong evidence that Mars was hospitable to life
in the past. At the end of 2012, the first drilling assignment for Curiosity
found clay-like minerals that form in the presence of water. In December 2013,
scientists announced the strongest evidence yet for an ancient fresh-water lake
in Gale Crater. Planetary geologist John Grotzinger said that Earth microbes
would have thrived in this lake if they were placed there. Last year,
astronomers at the European Southern Observatory’s Very Large Telescope in
Chile found evidence that Mars was once had an ocean that held more water than
the Arctic Ocean and covered a greater percentage of Mars’ surface than the
Atlantic Ocean does on Earth. Finally, this past November, the InSight mission
landed on Mars and almost immediately started digging to study the geology of
Mars. While geology isn’t life, many scientists think there is a relationship
between geologic activity and the favorability for life to evolve.Watch a short
video about the InSight Mission at https://youtu.be/Uzr335ZFrvQ. Watch reddish
Mars, itself, four fists held upright and at arm’s length above the
west-southwest horizon at 8:00 p.m.
By the way, the
name of the observatory in Chile really is Very Large Telescope. See for
yourself at http://www.eso.org/paranal.
Sunday: Orion still
has a prominent spot in the nighttime sky. The belt is three fists above due
southwest at 9 p.m.
Monday: Two weeks
ago, the Moon was next to Mars in the evening sky. This morning at 6:30, the
Moon is near the bright star Antares, known as Mars’ rival. We know it is Mar’s
rival because its name tells us. Mars was the Roman god of war and Aries was
the Greek god of war. The prefix “ant-” is another way to say “anti-” meaning
“against”, “opposite of”, or “rival to”.
Tuesday: This
morning, the Moon has moved eastward in the sky so it is near Jupiter. Jupiter
less than a fist to the left of the Moon and is two fists above the south
horizon. Saturn is one and a half fists above the south-southeast horizon.
Venus is a half a fist above the east-southeast horizon. And, for an added
challenge, Mercury is hiding in the glare of the soon-to-rise Sun, about a fist
to the lower left of Venus.
Wednesday: In this
busy world, it is important to know what time it is. We have many devices that
give us the time. A phone. A computer. A watch. But who has time to build a
phone, computer or even a watch. Not you. But everyone has enough time to build
a simple Sun Clock. All you need is a pencil, a compass and a print out of the
clock template. Go to https://www.exploratorium.edu/science_explorer/sunclock.html for more
information.
Thursday: April is
Global Astronomy Month (GAM). While many astronomy experiences come from
looking up, you can also experience astronomy looking down… at pen and paper.
GAM has numerous arts initiatives and is looking for contributors. Even if
you’ve never written a poem before, this is your opportunity to express your
love for astronomy in a unique way and possibly share it with others. Go to https://astronomerswithoutborders.org/global-astronomy-month-2019.html for more
information about the AstroPoetry contest.
Friday: You need to
get up early tomorrow to cheer on your favorite runners at the Yakima River
Canyon Marathon starting at 8 a.m. on Canyon Road just south of Berry Road. So
why not get a little viewing in? To symbolize the long trail of a marathon,
follow the long trail of our own Milky Way Galaxy. It seems to rise up from the
ground due south. At its highest, it is five fists above due east. It sinks
back to the ground due north. The thickest part of the Milky Way is in the
southern sky because that is the direction of the center of the galaxy.
The positional information in this column about stars and planets is typically accurate for the entire week. For up to date information about the night sky, go to https://nightsky.jpl.nasa.gov/planner.cfm.
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