New experience brings life on Mars a little closer

By Mike Shanahan
Bishop Museum

POSTED: 01:30 a.m. HST, Sep 25, 2011

~~<p>The planet Mars shines in the early morning sky, rising in the east at 2 a.m. at the start of October and by 1:30 a.m. at the end of the month. The planet is at first magnitude, as bright as a bright star. If you look closely, you can see that it does have a pale orange color.</p>
<p>On the first night of October, Mars sits in front of the beehive cluster, the star cluster at the center of Cancer the Crab. The Beehive is pretty faint, and binoculars are helpful in picking out this lovely haze of stars. On Oct. 1 and throughout early October, Mars will be about one-third of the way up in east at daybreak. By the end of the month, the planet is about halfway up in the east at dawn.</p>
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The planet Mars shines in the early morning sky, rising in the east at 2 a.m. at the start of October and by 1:30 a.m. at the end of the month. The planet is at first magnitude, as bright as a bright star. If you look closely, you can see that it does have a pale orange color.

On the first night of October, Mars sits in front of the beehive cluster, the star cluster at the center of Cancer the Crab. The Beehive is pretty faint, and binoculars are helpful in picking out this lovely haze of stars. On Oct. 1 and throughout early October, Mars will be about one-third of the way up in east at daybreak. By the end of the month, the planet is about halfway up in the east at dawn. Login for more...