Mars: More Than Red Dust and Yellow Clouds

Rochelle Derilo

Considered by many to be the most similar to earth, this red planet is a special favorite in planetary observation due to its prominent surface features.

Named after the Roman God of War, Mars is the second closest planet to Earth, next to Venus. It is only about half of earth's diameter, yet it is massive enough to pull an atmosphere and two loyal moons, Phobos (Greek for "fear") and Deimos ("panic"). Mars is a terrestrial planet. Its famous reddish color is due to a rich deposit of iron oxide (which is simply rust) on the planet's surface.

A Martian day is equivalent to 24.62 earth days, while it takes 686.98 days to complete a Martian year. That's roughly one Martian birthday every two earth years. Mars also has seasons like the earth, due to the fact that its axis is tilted by 25° from the perpendicular to its orbit. The part tilted toward the sun gets more energy, thus enjoying summer season, while the part tilted away from the sun is colder and darker, what we call winter on earth. However, because it is already far from the sun, Martian summer is never warm. The highest temperature its surface has ever reached is 0°C, the freezing point of water.

Is there life on Mars?

Ever since man has started to walk upright, he started seeking out knowledge by traveling and exploring neighboring lands. As time passes, technology progresses and he learns to explore farther and farther lands and seas, just to satisfy his curiosity. Discovering how ideal earth is for life to flourish brings our attention to the next level: the quest for other life-producing spots in the universe.

As a neigboring planet, Mars's potential to accomodate life is one of the top interests of space missions. The very first mission sent to go near the red planet is Mariner 4 in 1965. It brought to us images showing Mars's cratered surface. More daring missions followed, such as that of the Viking I in 1975 and Viking II in 1976, which landed on its surface, relaying back data that lead us to see a clearer picture of the Martian topography. After a long silence in Mars exploration, the Pathfinder probe and Sojourner rover were launched in 1996 to study the Martian soil and collect rock samples.

More missions followed. Some have failed, while others have done well. So far, the two latest probes sent to the controversial planet are the Mars Express by the European Space Agency (ESA) and the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter by the National Aeronautics and Space Agency (NASA).

So far, none of them has found any signs of life on Mars.

Observing Mars

Mars comes very close to Earth every 26 months, a time which astronomers call its opposition— when it is located exactly opposite the sun—and this is one of those times. At opposition, Mars appears bigger and brighter. This excites planet observers because this is when they can capture the best images of Mars, full of surface details. The feast usually lasts from three to four months, enough time to hone one's astrophotography or sketching skills!

Earthbound observers see Mars as a bright red, star-like object rising earlier every night. Right now, the planet remains bright in the constellation Aries. If you plot its position every night with respect to the stars, you will find that it is currently moving in retrograde (west to east) direction. It will go back to its normal direction by mid-December.

A pair of good-quality binoculars show Mars as a red orange disk. Clouds on Mars are yellow, so a yellow-orange Mars means you are observing a fine Martian day—stormy weather on Mars makes it appear more red! Small telescopes reveal the more obvious landmarks such as polar caps and large basins. Observing Mars requires a lot of patience, though, because its disk seen on a telescope is very small—even smaller than Jupiter or Saturn—that it may become a challenge to sketch any markings you see on a piece of paper.

To observe Mars, find a dark comfortable place where you can sit and set up your telescope. If you're using binoculars, try to mount it so it doesn't shake while you're observing. Bring a flashlight, paper and some pencils. Be sure to cover the flashlight with red cellophane to minimize the glare. At first you won't see much, but when your eyes adapt to the dark your view will become much clearer. When observing Mars through the scope, try not to look directly but use your peripheral vision to see the features on the surface of the disk. Draw a circle the size of a 5-peso coin on a sheet of paper and sketch what you see as accurately as possible. If you do this often, your observation skills will improve rapidly!

Remember that observation requires patience and a lot of practice, but is also lots of fun! The best thing is, you will enjoy it more as your observation skills increase.

Famous features

Giovanni Schiaparelli, an Italian astronomer in the 19th century, made the first map of Mars using only a very small telescope and a pencil. His map contained channels, flatlands called lacum, and seas called mare. Modern maps of Mars now include more detailed features such as mountains called mons, cliffs called rupes, domed hills called tholus, valleys, ridges, and flatlands called planitia if low-lying and planum if elevated.

Olympus Mons, the most famous Martian feature and said to be the highest mountain in the entire solar system, is located at the northern hemisphere, near the equator. Generally, the southern hemisphere contains more craters and is of higher elevation than the northern hemisphere. So if ever you want to look at Mars through a telescope with decent aperture, you have an idea where to find more mare, or planum.

Also, try finding the large triangular dark basin called Syrtis Major. When you look at it and its surrounding features, the whole area looks like a chicken! Just don't forget that the image you see through a telescope is ALWAYS inverted vertically.

A body of controversies

Having statistics similar to earth's, Mars has long been under tight scrutiny in hopes of finding either a long-dead civilization or budding proto-lifeforms. Both make Mars a favorite subject of intrigue. Schiaparelli's discovery of Martian channels (canali, in Italian) was later misinterpreted as canals by some astronomers, thus creating the possibility that the planet was home to intelligent civilization, even inspiring the creation of the Looney Tunes character named Marvin the Martian. It is indeed true that human curiosity can be so strong it compels nations to send probe after probe to explore what is still unknown.

The August 2003 opposition of Mars was greatly celebrated because it was the closest that Mars came to earth in a long time. Unfortunately, it inspired an email hoax that the planet would be as big as the full moon. This was farthest from the truth. Yes, it was definitely bright and large enough for the earthlings to enjoy viewing it, but it will never be as large as our moon! That email hoax was even revived recently and claimed that Mars will come too close to earth on August 2005 and will badly affect our lives. It didn't happen, and it never will.

In the first place, Mars came closest to Earth this year on Oct. 30, 2005 (not in August) and it remained a very bright spot in the sky at magnitude -2.3 (a little brighter than the brightest star, Sirius). Its disk was largest at only 20 arcseconds wide (the full moon is about half a degree wide). People should be wary and do some research before believing in (and forwarding!) these hoaxes.

Truly a wonder

Even if it is full of controversies, this feature-laden planet is truly a wonder. The fact that it is the only body aside from the moon that has visible surface markings make it an ideal target for observation. And it is beautiful. Why don't you try observing Mars and see the charm it might bring to you? You will never forget the experience.