Mars

Mars continues its evening climb in the eastern sky and is growing in brightness and apparent diameter daily. It is now pretty close to its biggest and brightest of the season at and mag . The actual peak will occur at the end of the month when Mars reaches just over and a blazing mag . In the meantime, just kick back and enjoy the views. Incredible details on the red planet are visible to almost any decent telescope at this point. on virtually any clear evening. Those of you with high quality optics will be amazed at the views you get. especially on nights of good seeing.

We recently had the privilege of viewing Mars through the Clark Refractor down at the Lowell Observatory in Flagstaff, Arizona. To say that the views were sweet through this magnificent instrument would be an understatement. These were without a doubt the finest views of Mars that I've ever seen. Mars will only improve over the remainder of the month. and will remain quite spectacular well into the fall. Be sure to look for the red planet each clear night we get throughout the fall.

The planet Mars was in the news often in due to its close orbital pass. Expect to hear about Mars often in as well due to a host of Missions to the red planet. The first mission to arrive is the Mars Express. On Dec. , it released the Beagle lander which is expected to land on the Martian surface on Christmas day. This is the same day that the Mars Express spacecraft is scheduled for orbit insertion. Visit the Mars Express Website for the latest information.

For the latest information on Mars, checkout The Weekly Utah Skies Report Or. Subscribe and have it sent to your inbox. Mars is currently rising in the southeast about. By about or so, it should be at its highest due south. and should be sinking in the southwest around midnight. Mars is still bright enough that you just can't miss it. It sounds like the plot of a sci fi movie rogue black holes roaming our galaxy, threatening to swallow anything that gets too close.