dipper@utastro.UUCP (Debbie Byrd) (09/30/84)
The moon can help you find the planet Mars tonight. More about the moon and Mars -- after this. September 30 Mars and the Moon Sunday evening, the planet Mars is that bright point of light just above the waxing crescent moon. In reality the two worlds are millions of miles apart. But they appear near each other on the dome of the sky because of both are now located in the same general direction from our location here on Earth. The moon and our Earth are companion worlds traveling around the sun. They move around each other in a minuet of gravitational attraction -- with the moon revolving around its much larger companion about once a month. So it takes the moon a little less than a month to cross the dome of the sky -- moving toward the east against the stars -- and also eastward in its orbit around Earth. The outer planets of the solar system generally move eastward also -- but the moon travels across the sky much faster -- passing the each visible planet every month. About two hundred forty thousand miles separate the Earth from the moon. Mars -- the next planet out after Earth -- is millions of miles away. From our vantagepoint on Earth -- Mars moves very slowly against the star background -- while the moon whirls across the celestial dome. Tonight the moon has moved almost directly into our line of sight of Mars -- and the nearness of the crescent moon and red planet make a pretty pattern in the night sky. During Sunday night the moon will continue eastward across the sky -- heading toward another nearby bright object -- the planet Jupiter. Script by Diana Hadley. (c) Copyright 1983, 1984 McDonald Observatory, University of Texas at Austin