NASA: What's Up for December?
(2007/12)This is the best
month to look at Mars because
Mars is going to be closest to
Earth.I'm Jane Houston Jones
at NASA's Jet Propulsion
Laboratory in Pasadena,
California.Earth is a little
closer to the sun so it orbits
a little faster, and Mars is a
littler farther away from the
sun so
more

NASA: What's Up for December?
(2007/12)This is the best
month to look at Mars because
Mars is going to be closest to
Earth.I'm Jane Houston Jones
at NASA's Jet Propulsion
Laboratory in Pasadena,
California.Earth is a little
closer to the sun so it orbits
a little faster, and Mars is a
littler farther away from the
sun so it orbits a little bit
slower.But every two years or
so we get really close to
MarsAnd we have what's called
opposition.That means that
Mars and the sun are on
opposite sides of the Earth.If
you just step outside and look
to the East, after the sun
sets, you'll see a bright
orange star-like object and
that's Mars and it's brighter
than anything else in the sky.
There's nothing else
brighter.Some of the features
through a telescope will look
sort of like a peachy color
and kind of a dark gray color
on some of the other
features.To see those colors
you really will need a larger
telescope but you'll still be
able to see some contrast
through the very smallest
telescope.The north polar area
of Mars is really interesting
and really worth looking at
this month because Mars is
just ending its winter and
during the wintertime on Mars'
north pole, there's a cloud
that covers the ice caps.As
Mars finishes winter and
begins spring, this polar
cloud starts to dissipate and
underneath the cloud is where
the polar ice cap is.Now we're
not sure if we'll be able to
see it in December or not but
you won't know without
looking.This month if you want
to see the side of Mars where
the rover Spirit is, look at
the beginning and at the end
of the month.And for
Opportunity, you'll want to
look at Mars on the 15 th.You
won't be able to see the
rovers, even with a telescope
but it's really nice to know
where they are.Besides the
rovers, there are several
spacecraft that are orbiting
the planet.Mars Odyssey and
Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter
are just two of them.The
European Space Agency's Mars
Express is also
orbiting.That's all for this
month, I'm Jane Houston Jones.

Category Travel & Places

Tags NASA, What, Up, December