A Martian Approach

Usually, mid-June's main astronomical event is the passing of the Summer Solstice, but this year several other heavenly phenomena have commanded center stage. Perhaps the most spectacular was the mid-summer solar eclipse which I was able to watch in part on CNN and the Internet. But, that spectacle was only live across southern Africa, half a world away from my Victoria, British Columbia home's viewpoint.

Image Credit: NASA and The Hubble Heritage Team (STScI/AURA), 2001

For me, the prime heavenly show was the closest approach of Mars to Earth since 1988, the separation narrowed down to approximately 68 million km (43 million miles). As a result, Mars was larger and brighter in the sky than usual, rising around sunset. On June 23, the evening skies over Victoria were unusually clear, and I caught the sight of the Red Planet an hour after sunset about 10 degrees above the horizon. Large and brilliant it certainly was. But most striking was its striking colour! Rather than the usual blood-red of legend, the planet glowed a golden orange. At first, I thought the reason was due to dust in the terrestrial atmosphere, but, as the attached Hubble telescope photograph (taken on June 26) shows us, the reason for the colour of Mars was dust storms raging across the Martian atmosphere. While to my eye, the golden colour covered the whole planetary orb, the Hubble detail shows a large storm system churning high above the northern polar cap [top of image], and a smaller dust storm cloud nearby. Another large dust storm spills out of the giant Hellas impact basin in the Martian Southern Hemisphere [lower right].

According to astronomers, the 2001 Mars opposition is but a prelude to 2003 when Mars and Earth will come within 55 million km (35 million miles) of each other, the closest since 1924. I can't wait for that event; I hope I still have as great a sky view.