dipper@utastro.UUCP (02/16/86)
Look for Mars and Saturn near each other before dawn tomorrow. More -- after this. February 16 Mars and Saturn Two planets are easy to see before dawn tomorrow. They are Saturn and Mars -- now very close together high in the southeast when dawn breaks. Earlier this month, Mars was rising about half an hour or so before Saturn. Now the two planets are rising within minutes of each other -- and they appear close together in the sky. You can see them! They're pretty bright -- and conspicuous for being so close together. Both Monday and Tuesday morning, Mars and Saturn are within about three moon diameters of each other in the southeast before dawn. By the end of this month, Saturn will be rising about a half an hour before Mars. It will rise steadily earlier -- because Earth is now catching up to both worlds in the race around the sun -- but catching up to Saturn faster than Mars -- because Saturn moves so slowly. Our planet will pass between Saturn and the sun in May. We'll eventually catch up to Mars, too -- and pass between it and the sun in July. There's a bright star lingering near Saturn and Mars now. It's Antares, the ruby heart of the scorpion in the constellation Scorpius. The name Antares means "rival of Ares," with Ares being the Greek name for the god of war, Mars. The ancient stargazers thought that the star Antares was a rival in brightness and color to the planet Mars. And so it is -- for the moment. As we catch up to Mars in orbit, it will far surpass Antares in brightness. See what you think when you see them all -- before dawn -- early this week. Script by Deborah Byrd. (c) Copyright 1985, 1986 McDonald Observatory, University of Texas at Austin