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VOICE ONE:
This is Phoebe Zimmermann.
VOICE TWO:
And this is Richard Rael with theVOA Special English program EXPLORATIONS. The planet Mars came closeto Earth in August, closer than it has been in the pastsixty-thousand years. This event helped create a huge interest inthe science of astronomy.
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VOICE ONE:
People have always watched the beautiful night sky. Many ancientpeople of the world closely studied the stars for signs from theirgods. The Mayan and Aztecs of Central America and Mexico builtspecial tall buildings to observe the stars. The ancient people ofEgypt, Greece, Italy, and China also studied the stars. The peoplewho lived on the islands of the Pacific used the stars to find theirway across huge areas of ocean.
The people of Earth today still look to the stars for information– not about ancient gods, but about the universe. Modern technologyhas made it possible to see objects in space that are thousands ofmillions of kilometers away.
VOICE TWO:
However, without technology you can see all of the same objectsin the night sky that ancient people saw. There is a lot to see andstudy. It takes a little work and a little knowledge, but it isreally very easy.
If you live in the northern part of the world, you can search thenight sky to the north and find Polaris the great North Star.
Ancient people watched Polaris for a long time and discoveredthat it moves very little. It can always be found in the same placein the northern sky. Ancient people used the Polaris star to guidetheir ships across oceans.
In the southern part of the world you can see in the night skyAlpha and Beta Centauri. They point the way to the beautiful groupof stars called the Southern Cross. Ancient people used the SouthernCross to guide their ships.
VOICE ONE:
Ancient people who watched the night sky considered five greatmysteries. These mysteries were objects that moved from place toplace. Some of these objects seemed to move straight ahead. Othersseemed to move in one direction for a while and then move back inthe opposite direction. Some could be seen for a few months and thendisappeared. But they did not seem to shine like other stars.
Almost every ancient culture knew of these five mysteries. Theancient Greeks called them “planetes.” (PLAN-ee-teess).The wordmeans wanderer — one who moves from place to place with no home.
On a dark, clear night, away from the lights of a city, you canstill find the five wanderers using only your eyes. However they areno longer mysteries. Today we know them as Saturn, Jupiter, Venus,Mercury and the closest planet to Earth, the red planet, Mars.
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VOICE TWO:
Mars is the fourth planet from the sun and the next planet beyondthe Earth. Mars is the only planet whose surface can be seen fromEarth. It is about half the size of our planet. The ancient Romansnamed it after their god of war because of its red color.
The surface of Mars is more likeEarth than any other planet. However, because it is further from thesun than Earth, temperatures on Mars are much lower. Most of thetime the temperatures are far below freezing. Plants and animalscould not live now on Mars. However many scientists believe thatsuch life may have existed long ago.
American space agency exploration vehicles are now on their wayto Mars to investigate this idea. They will search for water andevidence that life may have existed at one time. Experts believethat Mars will be the first planet humans will explore.
VOICE ONE:
On August twenty-seventh, Mars had traveled across space towithin about fifty-six-million kilometers from Earth. You may thinkthis is still a very great distance and it really is. However, tothose who study the night sky this was a very close distance. It iscloser than Mars has been for the past sixty-thousand years.
As Mars moved closer to Earth,newspapers, television programs and computer Internet sites had manystories about Mars. NASA supplied beautiful photographs of theplanet taken by the Hubble Space Telescope. One of the photographsshows the largest known volcano in our solar system, the hugeOlympus Mons. NASA also supplied photos taken by cameras on thesurface of Mars.
Experts said anyone with some kindof observing device could get a close look at Mars. All they neededto do was look to the south at anytime between the setting of thesun and dawn. Mars would look closer, be brighter and could be seenmuch more clearly than ever before. They would even be able to seethe polar ice at the bottom of the planet.
VOICE TWO:
Kelly Beatty is the editor of Sky and Telescope Magazine. Sky andTelescope is a magazine for people who study the night sky. MisterBeatty said many people have been buying telescopes to observe Mars.He said even less costly telescopes were selling quickly. He saidthese telescopes are good for observing Mars because the planet isso bright and easy to find.
Sky and Telescope Magazine has a Web site on the Internet. Themagazine lists many astronomy groups called clubs. Club members meetto enjoy the science of astronomy. These clubs began meeting moreoften as Mars came closer to Earth. Many told newspapers andtelevision stations they would permit anyone to use their telescopesto get a close look at Mars.
VOICE ONE:
Kate Graham works for the Glenwood Caverns Adventure Park, in thewestern town of Glenwood Springs, Colorado. Mizz Graham sellstickets to people who want to ride to the top of Iron Mountain onspecial cars. Mizz Graham says more than four-hundred-fifty peoplemade the trip at night to observe Mars on August twenty-seventh.Mizz Graham says the group used a large telescope to see the redplanet.
People who observed Mars from Iron Mountain were only a few ofmany thousands who wanted to see the planet. The Southern CrossAstronomical Society of Miami, Florida held a free public viewing ofthe red planet. Many similar groups around the world did the same.These groups helped millions of people to see Mars for the firsttime.
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VOICE TWO:
Mars is moving away from the Earth now. It is moving away atabout nine-thousand kilometers an hour and gaining speed. By the endof September it will be moving away at a speed of abouttwenty-six-thousand kilometers an hour. That may sound very fast.However, it is a slow movement of an object in space.
The experts say Mars is getting easier to see. This is because itrises earlier in the night sky and is not so bright. In late August,it did not look like the red planet. It was a very bright whitecolor.
After the moon, it was the brightest object in the night sky. Itis still many times brighter than any other object in the night sky.Now, as it moves farther away, it is once again becoming the colorred. People who look to the southeast will see the red planetwithout even trying. After dark it will be very near the moon. Bythe end of September it will begin to slowly lose the very brightcolor we see now.
VOICE ONE:
Experts suggest you try to observe the planet with some kind oftelescope. It does not need to be costly. Even a cheap one will letyou see some detail of the planet’s surface that will disappear byearly October.
A small telescope will let you see the darker and lighter redcolored areas. You may also see the white color of the brightMartian south pole. The ice there is melting now. It is the middleof the Martian summer. With a good telescope you may even see thehigh, thin blue clouds of Mars. Or perhaps the yellow areas that arethe great Martian deserts covered by sand.
VOICE TWO:
Mars is only one of the many interesting objects that can be seenat night. You can easily learn more about the sky, stars andplanets. Most libraries have books that can teach anyone about thescience of astronomy. You can also learn a great deal from theInternet. A good place to start is with Sky and Telescope Magazine.The magazine’s address is www.skyandtelescope.com. Sky and Telescopeare all one word.
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VOICE ONE:
This program was written by Paul Thompson and produced by MarioRitter. This is Phoebe Zimmermann.
VOICE TWO:
And this is Richard Rael. Join us again next week for anotherEXPLORATIONS program in Special English on the Voice of America.