dipper@utastro.UUCP (Debbie Byrd) (11/29/85)
If there were any Martians, they would be celebrating the solstice on Mars today. More -- after this. November 29 Solstice on Mars Today is the summer solstice for the northern hemisphere of a world beyond our own -- summer solstice for the planet Mars. Like the Earth, Mars tilts on its axis. Its northern and southern hemispheres trade places in receiving the sun's rays most directly. Mars has four seasons -- which last twice as long as earthly seasons -- since Mars takes two Earth years to travel once around the sun. Seen from the martian northern hemisphere today, the sun takes its most northerly path across the pink martian sky. It is the height of summer for that hemisphere -- a time when dust storms often rage on Mars. If the dust storms were fairly quiet, and if Mars were fairly close to Earth, this season on Mars would be a good time to aim a telescope at the planet. The north polar ice cap now points most directly toward the sun. It's sometimes seen from Earth through a telescope as a white button on a reddish disk. But Mars is far ahead of Earth in orbit now. It's about 18 light-minutes away, which translates to about 200 million miles. This summer, when we pass between the red planet and the sun, Mars will be only about three-and-a-half light-minutes away -- or about 40 million miles. Now Mars is faint -- and visible in our sky before dawn. Next summer, it'll be bright -- and visible all night long. So today is a good day to think about Mars -- about summer in that world's northern hemisphere -- when the temperature on Mars can reach a balmy 60 degrees Fahrenheit. Script by Deborah Byrd. (c) Copyright 1984, 1985 McDonald Observatory, University of Texas at Austin