Here comes Mars

In all of recorded human history, it is only the Earth civilization of 2003 that can claim a close encounter of the red kind.

Mars, dubbed the Red Planet for its reddish-orange hue, will be within 35 million miles of Earth (about one-third of the distance from the Earth to the sun) at the end of the month, the closest it has been in possibly 60,000 years.

With Mars so relatively close, it gives amateur astronomers their best chance to see Earth's neighbor from their own back yards, with or without a telescope or binoculars. It is easily visible to the naked eye in the southeastern sky shortly after nightfall.

And despite age-old tall tales of little green men from Mars, there is nothing to worry about, says Linda Sparke, who chairs the University of Wisconsin-Madison astronomy department.

"It's not going to attack us," she explained in her down-to-Earth way. "It's quite safe."

However, she said, "if they did, this would be the right time to send the spacecraft."

In fact, because of the proximity, NASA has launched two Mars rover spacecraft of its own (named Spirit and Opportunity) to take advantage of this celestial good fortune. Spirit launched from Cape Canaveral, Fla., June 10 and will arrive at Mars on Jan. 4, 2004. Opportunity was launched July 7 and will arrive Jan. 25, 2004.

Right now Earth is orbiting between the sun and Mars, in what astronomers call "opposition." Mars will also be in conjunction (that is, the sun will be directly behind Earth and in line with Mars), so the Red Planet will be fully illuminated - no crescent.

Oppositions with Mars happen regularly, every two years or so, but this one is different because Mars will be much closer to Earth and its path will afford viewers a closer view of the fourth planet from the sun.

If that seems quite a distance, compare it to the nearest star beyond our own sun. Andrew Fox, a graduate student in the UW astronomy department, said that if someone were standing on the nearest star and flashed a light, that signal would take four years to reach Earth. If the same were to happen from Mars on Aug. 27, it would take the light just three minutes to arrive.

The planet will be so bright, in fact, that stargazers can watch it rise in the east after 9 p.m. By the end of this month, the planet will be rising about 9 p.m. Look for a constant bright shape that is reddish-orange in color, Fox advises.

"You'll really be able to tell the difference between Mars and the other stars," he said.

Astronomers predict they will get a large number of phone calls from members of the public who, after seeing Mars on the horizon, will assume they've just had a close encounter.

Unlike viewing the sun, watching Mars with the naked eye is fine, says James Lattis, director of the UW Space Place, but the best way to experience the opposition of Mars is to get to a telescope. With a lens, viewers should be able to see some details, like the planet's polar caps and its geological features.

"This is the kind of event where a telescope is an appropriate tool," Lattis said.

There are a number of local and statewide events planned that will allow visitors to view Mars through a lens. However, real enthusiasts might want to dust off their own telescope or invest in a lens.

A decent telescope costs about $200 to $300, Lattis said. They're not easy to find locally, but he advises checking with Wild Birds Unlimited or Eagle Optics.

More importantly, if you decide to use your own lens, Lattis said, it's important to get out with it during the day and practice setting it up and focusing it. Don't worry so much about light pollution, he added. Mars is bright enough that it will be visible regardless of ambient light in the atmosphere.

While amateur astronomers all over Dane County are gearing up for many nights of stargazing, the UW staff isn't quite so excited.

"The reason the professionals are sort of bored is that we knew this was going to happen," Sparke said. "We can predict this sort of stuff. It's not like it caught us by surprise."

Moreover, Mars is notorious for having wild dust storms that obscure visibility on its surface. Or as Madison Astronomical Society member Tim Ellestad explained, "This is the opportunity for the stargazer. We're sending probes to Mars. We're long past what we're going to learn peering through the telescope. This is purely for the observing experience for the amateur, but that's pretty fun."

The Madison Astronomical Society maintains its own observatory - which due to insurance concerns is in an undisclosed location. ("It's probably in as dark a site as we're going to get with the convenience of one day's worth of driving," Ellestad said.) Members are using that lens, as well as their own telescopes, to view Mars.

For any astronomer - amateur or professional - the art of the pastime lies partly in its difficulties. Weather concerns and atmospheric conditions top the astronomer's list of problems, Ellestad said.

Unlike the Hubble Space Telescope, which captures perfect electronic images, a viewer using a lens on the Earth's surface must contend with the limits of his or her own body and the motion in the atmosphere. The human eye and brain perceive that minute motion in much the same way a mirage on a hot day is seen. The image shimmers or even blurs. With the tiny size of astronomer's targets, the star or planet may wiggle or swim or never be in focus no matter what - depending, of course, on the amount or type of disturbance.

Professional astronomers call this "the seeing," as in "The seeing was good on Saturday night."

"We don't live in a place on Earth that has the most spectacular seeing conditions," Ellestad said of the Madison area.

So when a planet gets this close, it offers up a good opportunity for better seeing. Normally it takes exceptional seeing conditions and an excellent telescope to observe Mars' detail, but Ellestad said the larger the planet, the better the seeing.

"As images go, Mars is dinky," he said. "Any time it's notably closer, it's a substantially improved opportunity to see some detail on the planet."

And since most amateur astronomers come to the hobby with a sense of awe or fascination and a hope to relate to the scale of the universe, looking at planets is perhaps the most satisfying of experiences, he added.

Professional astronomers enjoy events like this because they attract the general public to their science.

"This kind of (planetary) opposition, while it's not terribly important for astronomical research, is very important in that it's a great opportunity for the public to get a good look at a neighboring planet," Lattis said.

He added: "We gain insight into our place on Earth and in the universe as a whole. These are important things that get lost in the day-to-day business of life."

Astronomy and NASA also could use a good shoring up right now, particularly after the shuttle disaster, the astronomers say.

"Astronomy is a science that is very sensitive to public opinion," Fox said. "Something like this is viewed as a chance to get astronomy back into a good public opinion."

That's why the UW astronomy department and the Madison Astronomical Society are working hard to get people out looking at Mars thismonth. Sparke said her department's goal is to show people the night sky above their head and familiarize them with its mysteries.

"Maybe if people start looking, they'll look more often," she said. "If you get used to looking, you can start to track changes in the sky."

That, of course, is what our ancestors did - before the advent of clocks and calendars. They used the constellations to mark the turning of seasons. Reconnecting people to that celestial past is important, Sparke said.

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ANNOUNCER: We are bringing you an eyewitness account of what's happening on the Wilmuth farm, Grovers Mill, New Jersey.

(MORE PIANO)

.....We now return you to Carl Phillips at Grovers Mill.

PHILLIPS: Ladies and gentlemen (Am I on?). Ladies and gentlemen, here I am, back of a stone wall that adjoins Mr. Wilmuth's garden. From here I get a sweep of the whole scene. I'll give you every detail as long as I can talk. As long as I can see. More state police have arrived They're drawing up a cordon in front of the pit, about thirty of them. No need to push the crowd back now. They're willing to keep their distance. The captain is conferring with someone. We can't quite see who. Oh yes, I believe it's Professor Pierson. Yes, it is. Now they've parted. The Professor moves around one side, studying the object, while the captain and two policemen advance with something in their hands. I can see it now. It's a white handkerchief tied to a pole . . . a flag of truce. If those creatures know what that means . . . what anything means!. . . Wait! Something's happening!

(HISSING SOUND FOLLOWED BY A HUMMING THAT INCREASES IN INTENSITY)

PHILLIPS: A humped shape is rising out of the pit. I can make out a small beam of light against a mirror. What's that? There's a jet of flame springing from the mirror, and it leaps right at the advancing men. It strikes them head on! Good Lord, they're turning into flame!

(SCREAMS AND UNEARTHLY SHRIEKS)

PHILLIPS: Now the whole field's caught fire. (EXPLOSION) The woods . . . the barns . . . the gas tanks of automobiles . . . it's spreading everywhere. It's coming this way. About twenty yards to my right . . .

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