Cats Eye Nebula

Contents
Meet The Staff: ................................................................................................................................... 2 OAS News ............................................................................................................................................ 3 OAS Academy News ................................................................................................................... 3 Course Updates ............................................................................................................................ 4 OAS Mugs ..................................................................................................................................... 4 Continued Novice Trials of Solar Imaging ........................................................................................... 5 Young women in STEM ....................................................................................................................... 7 The Sun ............................................................................................................................................... 8 Astro Photography Tool .................................................................................................................... 12 Finding PanSTARRS ........................................................................................................................... 15 Reader Images .................................................................................................................................. 16 The Mars Society: Humans to Mars in a Decade ............................................................................. 17 Augusts Night Sky............................................................................................................................. 21

Meet The Staff:

Alastair Leith FRAS
Took an interest in astronomy in 1986 with advent of Halleys Comet, When not running OAS related ventures and groups (OAS Academy/Planetarium etc.), specialises in Solar Astronomy and Spectroscopy.

Pete Gow
From Lydney, Gloucestershire. I am very much a back garden astronomer with a keen interest in keeping things as cheap as possible. I enjoy Lunar, Solar and planetary imaging with modified webcams, and have a lot of fun with the D.I.Y approach to getting things made where possible. I am also an amateur radio operator and have an interest in radio astronomy and meteor detecting using radar from the G.R.A.V.E.S radar site in France.

Mark Woodland F.R.A.S

From Bath. Fellow of the Royal Astronomical Society. Student of Extreme Environment Astrophysics & Relativistic Cosmology with the Open University. Member of the Wells & Mendip group, and volunteer at the Charterhouse Centre Observatory. Amateur astronomer, addicted Science tweeter (@mw5868)

Jasmin Evans
Outreach volunteer and astronomer at the Kielder Observatory in Northumberland UK. Since 2012 she has been part of a team that have shown thousands of members of the public, the pristine dark skies through a range of telescopes at the award winning visitor attraction. A member of the UK Young Astronomers group, Jasmin's published work has included articles for Popular Astronomy as well as maintaining her own blog site on astronomy. Active in science communication and passionate about engagement of women in science, she is aiming to commence her degree in astronomy in 2013.

Aprill Harper
From Cambridge, now living in rural Bedfordshire and is a part time author and full time contract negotiator for an airline. In December 2012, Aprill embarked on two new hobbies; photography and astronomy, with an optimistic approach to combining the two into astrophotography. Not always wishing for clear skies just so long as they are interesting skies.

OAS News
OAS Academy News

Introducing the new OAS Certification We know we have recently bought in the GCSE Astronomy course, but wanted to look at bringing in some sort of certification process to reflect the value a student should feel after completing a module. More can be seen at www.onlineastronomycourses.co.uk We now have the Bronze, Silver, and Gold Awards which come complete with certificate that can be emailed out once courses are completed

Anyone who completes ALL modules within the OASA including the imaging with a webcam, solar imaging, and the cosmology will be eligible for this award, it shows pretty much you have crossed over from novice (beginner) to amateur astronomer status

This award is made to anyone who has completed and been awarded the Bronze star AND completed the GCSE Astronomy course. Even if you have not completed the exam, you are still entitled to this qualification at the behest of your tutor

We are working on some extra courses as we speak (which we will announce closer to the time) where this badge will come into its own.

Course Updates

Freddy Willems has submitted a course on planetary imaging, this is shortly going to be released so watch this space!

OAS Mugs

We still have some of these available if people are interested in purchasing one for 10 (this includes P&P) and applies to mainland UK only. Member Achievements Well done to Alice Shepherd who was elected as Fellow of the Royal Astronomical Society in July of this year. GCSE Astronomy by Distance Learning We are now accepting registration for GCSE Astronomy for 2014/2015, cost is just 180 to include cost of textbook, worksheets, tutor support. Please contact OASAcademy@gmail.com for more information.

Continued Novice Trials of Solar Imaging

by Aprill Harper So you have made your solar filter and are now take great pleasure from observing our Sun. If you are in the United Kingdom you would have been fortunate during the month of July for having mostly clear skies as we settled in to a lovely high pressure, burning the clouds away with nice warmed weather. And we have had a lovely show of sun spots. I have been imaging my observations with a Samsung NX1000 digital camera. Unlike a most other digital cameras, this is 100% digital and has no view finder and no mirror to be moved out of the way before an image is captured. And this is where we hit the next snag. As you are already aware, the Sun is an extremely bright object. I have already reduced most of the visible light because I am using a solar filter (like a good girl) and the aperture reducer is reducing more for me. But, I notice any speck of dust or dirt easily against the backdrop of the Sun. Those first few images I took had splodges which were most definitely NOT sun spots. And hooking up to the telescope caused some of the problem as inside of the scope is not super clean. And then it occurred to me, this problem of dirt is not just mine, with my choice of camera.but a real problem for anyone that has an open sensor. You see the problem starts when the sensor is switched on. Once energised it attracts dirt to it. How many of us have swapped lenss with the camera (and therefore sensor) powered? At least on a DSLR with a mirror.and dirt coming down through the scope.the mirror briefly gets in the way. But then you get in to bad habits, because it on delays the dirt getting onto the sensor. So, after 3 months of using my camera and thinking all was good, it wasnt an d once I started imaging the Sun I realised I was in trouble. There are 3 methods for cleaning the dirt from your sensor, and they are cumulative. Choose a nice clean area to work in. And have a bright light ready to reflect off the sensor (the dirt shows up surprisingly well under these conditions). And once you are ready you can set to work.

First..... the blower A little hand held puffer to blow the dirt off, sensor facing down (and optimistic gravity will help). You can puff away. Take a shot of a really bright object that fills the screen and have a look at your image to see if you still have dirt in the same place.

Second.... the brush A brush that sweeps or dislodges the dirt and then you puff it off for sure, again sensor facing down. Sweep in one direction and puff after every sweep. And then take a sample image. If you still have dirt and it is in the same place then it needs something serious.

Third... the chemical swab A little swab, made from a microfiber material on a little stick, either pre-impregnated with methanol or methanol to be added. This removes stuck on particles....to be then swept with the brush and puffed off with the puffer. This can......if really bad.....take ages. I know. And now it is part of my routine to take a few shots and make sure there are no sensor marks before I commit to some serious imaging. And I also have some keep it clean habits I certainly never had before. My lessoned is learned. Clean results

Young women in STEM

By Jasmin Evans Looking back through the early days of science and education, it becomes apparent there has long been a distinct gender gap in the STEM subjects. Even today, Chemistry, physics and mathematics are commonly referred to as boys subjects. Girls however are left to biology and are lead to believe from a young age, that this is their only option if they want to grow up to be a scientist. A recent report from the Institute of Physics Its different for girls explored the progression of girls in different schools to A-level physics and along with the accompanying statistics discovered a distinct lack of young women taking physics to a higher level. In my own personal experience, I was the only girl in my AS physics class. It suited me and I dont believe that my gender made a difference to my achievements compared to my male classmates. However I do believe the question needs to be asked; why arent there more girls interested not just in physics but in all STEM subjects? As a student I dont believe in diversity for diversitys sake. Encouraging girls into the various fields with the aim to make up the numbers is not the way forward. The point is to encourage them to be in it for passion for the subject, for curiosity and to satisfy a need to discover and find things out. Various campaigns have set out to empathise and make STEM more appealing to young women in more conventional ways. The video Science: Its a girl thing from the European Commission hit the internet last year, aiming to appeal to girls by speaking their language and showing them that it is still possible to be feminine and be involved in science. However, the high heels, short skirts, lipstick and crowding around one male scientist whilst giggling gave completely the wrong impression. It was degrading and offensive to real women in science and not the way to inspire teenage girls, already image conscious, to get into STEM education. It was removed from the internet when it received too many negative comments. When the video was released, the power of twitter took over and a list of real women in science was compiled bringing together both experienced women who work in the industry and young girls who communicate their love of science through social media. The power of social media is prominent in society today, most companies are now using sites like Twitter and Facebook to network with potential customers but they are also a key part of connecting with other people who share similar interests. For instance, the physics and astronomy community makes it easy to interact with professionals and amateurs alike, and this is why for me it plays an incredibly important role in getting girls interested in STEM. Accounts such as Physics Girlies, who tweet from their GCSE physics lessons about what they are learning, Science Grrl who support women in science and celebrate their input, Young Astronomers UK; a Twitter and Facebook campaign ran by four young people whose primary aim

is to share their love of our amazing, fascinating universe these are all examples of organisations channelling passion for a subject and making knowledge accessible to everyone. As a young person it can be difficult to present yourself to others as someone who is interested in something that is not considered the norm, the internet and social networks allow you to be yourself but almost in a second skin it makes it easier to be you. Having role models such as Valentina Tereshkova, the first woman in space; Helen Sharman, chemist, engineer and Project Juno astronaut which saw her become the first British woman in space, Dr Lucie Green, solar physicist and presenter on The Sky at Night, all can inspire and motivate young women to follow in their footsteps. One of my greatest inspirations is Dr Carolyn Porco, a planetary scientist who worked on the Voyager mission, is Cassini imaging team leader and founder of the recent Day Earth Smiled event. Dr Porco has an amazing presence on twitter, she regularly answers questions put to her by followers and answered mine on the achievements of the Cassini mission the evening before my final physics examit was the best exam Ive ever taken! She is a fantastic role model f or girls, showing that it is completely possible to be a physicist, be successful and achieve your dreams and aspirations. The future is bright for young women in STEM education, the world of science is constantly evolving and growing as is the role of women within it. We have a lot to offer and as a young person hoping to spend the rest of my life in science, I will keep on pushing for exploration to bring people together and discover. I will do whatever I can to encourage and inspire young women to pursue a career in any area of science, especially in the areas that are male dominated, and help them to follow up that career with as much passion and drive as they can muster.

The Sun
By Mark Woodland F.R.A.S The Sun proves to be a sometimes understated and underrated member of the solar system, however, without it, we would not be here. Its pure power and might are what we shall investigate below, looking at what the Sun actually is, what it is made of, and what we can expect from it. The Sun, a Profile Our Sun, is a star. Not too unlike the others that we humans whimsically stare up at in the night sky. The only major difference is that our star supports a small blue dot which harbours life. So what are stars? They are balls of mostly hydrogen gas, which under the influences of gravity, temperature and pressure (and some other strange quantum

mechanical processes of which more later) generate energy. This energy we recognise as heat and light, here on Earth. Lets talk size. The Sun, when you look at it in the sky (in a metaphorical manner as you should NEVER look directly at it) appears to be no bigger than the moon. Well, actually as observed in the sky, its not. This is merely an optical illusion generated by a ratio of distances. However, the Sun is in the order of 332,000 times more massive than the Earth. The Suns mass is a whopping (for those unfamiliar with scientific notation this is, after rounding, 2 with 31 zeros after) or in words a colossal 2 million, million, million, million, million kilograms. Its energy output is per year. Thats a pretty large amount of energy. When it comes to temperature, we find a funny thing. The surface temperature of the sun is roughly 6000 Kelvin; however, as you move out into the solar atmosphere (the very tenuous layer) the temperature rises dramatically to over 1 million Kelvin. Something that, as yet, there is no answer for. A possibility is, that due to temperature being a measure of kinetic energy, and that charged material can travel along magnetic field lines, at very high speeds, this may account for the great temperature. The Sun sits at the centre of our solar system, some 93 million miles from Earth. This corresponds to 30 light seconds. The distance light travels at in 30 seconds. Origins The specific details regarding the origins of the Sun can never be known with 100% certainty, but from observing other stars in the universe, we are able to ascertain a very good idea of where our life giving star arose from. Some number of billions of years ago, there existed a cloud of hydrogen gas. This cloud was large, extremely large, light years across. The likelihood is that somewhere in the neighbourhood a supernova went off, sending shockwaves out into space. This caused the material in the cloud to begin clumping. As the mass of these clumps increased, it attracted more material due to its gravity, and so on, until we have what is known as a protostar. As the protostar accreted more mass, it grew in size and its temperature and pressure rising. The temperature rises due to increase friction, and the pressure rises due to the effective compacting of the material, and also is influenced by temperature. Eventually there came a point when the temperature and pressure became high enough that hydrogen atoms could smash into each other with a release of energy. At this point the protostar explodes into life, and a new star is born. What Powers the Sun? This process of atoms smashing into each other, as I mentioned above, is known as fusion. This reaction has an extremely high efficiency of energy release. It is the

process that powers all known stars during their main lifetime. The process that powers our Sun, is known as the pp1 (PP One) chain. Hydrogen atoms smash into each other releasing a positron (positive electron) and an electron neutrino. This forms Deuterium, which then fuses with another hydrogen atom. This fusion releases gamma rays and creates the atom Tritium (super heavy hydrogen). The tritium fuses with another tritium atom forming a Helium atom, and releasing two hydrogen atoms, which can then continue to fuse, and so the process continues (Positrons are the antiparticle of the electron).

I mentioned above that there is some amount of quantum jiggery pokery going on. Well, here it is. Atoms in the Sun are really ions. They have a charge. If we think of our hydrogen atoms as magnets we could say they have a North charge. Well, as we all learn in basic physics classes, like poles repel. The same applies to ions. This is why extreme temperatures and pressures are required. However, in the fusion process, the atoms undergo what is known as Quantum Mechanical Tunnelling. If we imagine the repelling force as a wall, then in quantum mechanics it is allowed that one ion can magically move from one side of the wall to the other without travelling through the wall. This is what allows hydrogen to fuse. Quantum Mechanics is a weird and wonderful field of study. The Life of a Star So, what can we say about the life of a star? Well lets look at the Hertzsprung Russell Diagram (called the HR diagram for short).

This diagram represents the possible lifetimes of a star, and interestingly shows the relationship between the observable colour of a star, and its temperature. As I mentioned above, the Sun has a temperature of roughly 6000K which as we can see in the diagram, corresponds to a yellow colour. Large stars like Sirius are blue giants, much greater than the Sun, and much hotter. The Sun will remain on the main sequence for a number of billions of years. Once all the hydrogen is depleted,

helium burning will begin (the process of fusion, involving helium rather than hydrogen.) At this point it will begin to drift off the main sequence up into the red giants section of the HR diagram. This is where we now consider the eventual fate of stars. The Eventual Fate For our Sun, its fate is clear. It will begin to expand, as it moves into the giant phase. Its outer layer will engulf Mercury, Venus and Earth (so, goodbye humanity, if we have not already left). Then layers will be shed, creating a beautiful planetary nebula such as the famous Cats Eye Nebula.

There will then be left a stellar remnant, probably a white dwarf, which will continue to emit very dim light for (as far as we know) several more billions of years. The death of medium size stars is somewhat more violent: once the energy created by fusion can no longer support the gravity of the star, it begins to collapse in on itself. As its radius decreases, its rotational velocity increases, meaning it will spin up (due to the conservation of angular momentum). The atoms are forced together in such a way, that the protons and electrons of the atoms merge, creating a star of neutrons. This Neutron degeneracy pressure then supports the mass, and stops the collapse. We have now, another stellar remnant, called a Neutron star, which is extremely dense with high magnetism. In normal stars the magnetic field lines are spread throughout the star over a large area, but as the star collapses into a Neutron star, the number of field lines remains constant, but the area is greatly reduced, thus increasing the field strength per unit area. For the most gigantic stars, their end is the most spectacular. The neutron degeneracy pressure fails to support the weight of the in-falling star. This results in the largest explosions known to exist, a supernova. The explosion can outshine all the other stars in the entire galaxy for a number of days or even weeks, and in most cases, what remains is a black hole.

The image above shows the galaxy before supernova (top) and then with the supernova (bottom) Our Sun will be around for a long time yet, and will continue to provide Earth with heat and light, but just one thing to leave you with. Stars can only fuse elements up to and including Iron, after which the fusion process becomes endothermic (requiring energy) rather than exothermic (giving out energy), so this doesnt actually occur! The question therefore is this: HOW do we have Uranium & other heavy elements on Earth? Post your answers to me on Twitter (@mw5868) or on the Facebook page, and I will post the answer next month! Remember, The Physics is Theoretical, but the fun is real!

REFERENCES: HR Diagram - http://www.wwu.edu/skywise/a101_hrdiagram.html Cats Eye Nebula http://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/imagegallery/image_feature_741.html Supernova Image - http://www.lbl.gov/Science-Articles/Archive/supernovametallicity.html Final Quote Believed to be from the TV Show Big Bang Theory.

Astro Photography Tool

It was pleasing to see this piece of software in last months Sky at Night cover disc, to the point I felt that given it was Online Astronomy Society Academy that assisted in the creation of the training material for the software, it was only right that we mentioned it as well.

Astro Photography Tool or (APT for short), is not a free software, however a trial can be downloaded. The main purpose of the software is for imaging, as you might expect. Though its aim is to replace the standard EOS software for the Canon Camera (which I might say it does with success). The software also works with other cameras like CCDs though not webcams. When you fire up the software, you are presented with the interface as below

Which you can see right away is written with dark adaption in mind. The Sky at Night magazine nick named with the astronomers swiss army knife, I have to say they are not far off the mark! One of the interesting features of this software is (once you have input your coordinates) you are able to plan your observing night ahead.

Double clicking on the weird ba on the left had side of the pain yields the below screen

This window allows you to choose a good clear night (the bar in the middle simulates the Moon!)

The software allows you to connect to more than one camera (which is indeed and you can choose your camera settings as you might expect

ISO, exposure time, even choosing different folders for different objects can be configured with APT

The software also allows for the control of filter wheels and focusers if these are connected to your computer. Certainly something of a rarity, however if this were not deluxe enough, then consider if youre wishing to focus your telescope using are FWHM or using a Bahtinov Mask? Well this software allows you to be able to do both. The interesting thing with this software is it allows you to see live visual of the diffraction pattern created by the Bahtinov mask and gives you a value regarding how accurate the focus is, so what might appear spot on to the eye may actually still be a tad off. Thus avoiding misconception that the collimation could be off if the image is still a tad blurred. In fact we were so impressed by this software that weve teamed up with APT to bundle it in with our courses, so when you purchase a course passport from the OASA Academy for 40 we will bundle a license to this amazing software with it. Did

we mention the software costs just less than a tenner? You can view the site here
http://www.ideiki.com/astro/

Finding PanSTARRS
Everyone remembers comet Panstarrs, right???? Heres my story on my attempts to find the comet in the western horizon. March 12th 2013 was the optimum time to find the comet in the western sky at dusk, with a slender crescent moon near the horizon acting as a guide, so I prepared to photograph the object with my outdated Kodak Easyshare C713 camera, a wobbly Samsonite camera tripod, and some thick gloves cause it was 55 outside and dropping shortly before sundown, I got my four-wheeler out and loaded my equipment up, and went a mile down the road to a big field, I set up there and started waiting eagerly for the sun to set. The temperature dropped to 49 at sunset and I was not prepared at all for these temperatures!!! I sighted the moon shortly after sunset, I expected it to be lower, and I started taking images. My hands were getting numb by this time, and they were getting hard to move as I pressed the picture button over and over. I failed to see the comet in any image, and the camera was about to die. I got the binoculars out, and still no luck, discouraged, numb, and freezing, I headed home. After I parked the four-wheeler, I headed up the outdoor staircase that goes to the shop's rafters and looked at the setting moon, I saw a yellowish object with a tail (2.5 long) I got the camera out and took a picture. I estimated its brightness at magnitude +0.7. My naked eye observation of the comet reminded me of seeing Mercury, as the planet hangs around this magnitude around greatest elongation. I showed the comet to my dad, he said it was small to be such a bright comet!!

Image: http://scienceheathen.com/2013/02/03/astronomy-2013-comet-ison-meteor-showerseclipses-comet-panstarrs-supermoon-mercury-venus-jupiter-etc/

Reader Images

The Mars Society: Humans to Mars in a Decade

By: Nicole Willett

[Image: The Mars Society]

A long time ago in the Milky Way Galaxy, Chris McKay, Penelope Boston, and Carol Stoker were on Planet Earth contemplating all things Mars. These three scientists, graduate students at the University of Colorado, decided to form a group called the Mars Underground and hold annual meetings to explore the science behind putting humans on Mars. One day, Robert Zubrin, an aerospace engineer, attended a meeting of the Mars Underground and was inspired to start the Mars Society. In 1998 the Mars Society was officially formed as a non-profit organization whose goals include the human exploration and settlement of Mars. The thought of one day standing on the Red Planet and looking out over the landscape may be beyond the imagination of some, but not to the members and friends of the Mars Society. We at the Mars Society believe that it takes a village, and we are utilizing that concept to send humans to the Red Planet. As an entirely volunteer organization, we have accomplished many great things since our inception. The goal is simple explore and send humans to Mars.

The Journey to Mars The planet Mars has been studied and portrayed in artistic endeavors for hundreds, if not thousands of years. The road to the Red Planet has been long and interesting. It has taken many people collaborating over the past 100 years or so to collect enough data to design and accomplish Mars missions. The first real steps toward Mars began in 1903. On December 17th, Orville and Wilbur Wright took a biplane made of muslin and spruce out to a field in Kitty Hawk, North Carolina. The brothers accomplished the first human airplane flight, changing life on Earth as we knew it. Since that time, technology has moved at an exponential pace. For instance, by the time World War I broke out in 1914, there was already aerial warfare, and by World War II, Germany had built the Me-262 jets, which first saw combat in 1944. Quickly thereafter Sputnik 1, the first artificial satellite, was successfully launched in 1957. This was soon followed by Luna 1 in 1959, which was the first spacecraft to fly by the Moon. Next on the spaceflight agenda was Mars. In 1964, the spacecraft Mariner 4 was the first to fly-by and photograph the surface of Mars. Although the pictures were black and white and not impressive to the untrained eye, they were a major accomplishment for the United States. Mariner 4 was followed by Mariner 6 and 7, both flybys in 1969. This coincided with and was clearly overshadowed by the Apollo 11 Moon landing that same year. Mariner 9 was the first orbiter to successfully arrive at Mars in 1971. Since the 1970s, there have been many successes and many failures with spacecraft seeking to explore Mars. Some of the most notable missions were the Viking 1 and 2 landers (1975-6), the Mars Pathfinder-Sojourner Rover (1997), the Mars Exploration Rovers Spirit (20042010) and Opportunity (2004-still operational), the Phoenix Lander (2008), and most recently and most impressively the Curiosity Rover (Aug 5, 2012).

The spacecraft listed above have carried many scientific instruments including spectrometers, rock abrasion tools, cameras, chemistry labs, a drill and even a laser. Together the orbiters, landers, and rovers have made many wonderful and exciting discoveries that have added to our understanding of the solar system by sampling the soil, the atmosphere, and the mineral content of Martian rocks. They have discovered the first meteorite on another planet that water existed on the surface of Mars and in the soil, that the inside of the rocks on Mars are grey (not red!), and that there are simple organic molecules inside the rocks on Mars. Other findings include carbon dioxide (CO2) snow, mysterious globules that shrink and grow near the legs of the Phoenix Lander, interesting geological outcroppings, seasonal fluctuations of methane (due to biological or geological activity), unequivocal evidence of past (and possibly current) water on the Martian surface, as well as many other discoveries. This is just a tiny sample of what has been discovered on the Red Planet in recent years. With the CuriosityMars Rover, armed with more scientific [Image: NASA] instruments than any rover or lander that has visited Mars to date, we hope to discover much more. Basic Mars Facts
The planet Mars was named after the God of War from Roman mythology. It is the 4th planet from the Sun, also known as the Red Planet.] Mars has what is known as a superior orbit, meaning that it orbits the Sun outside of the orbit of Earth. Orbit Order: SunMercuryVenusEarthMarsJupiter Saturn UranusNeptune. Mars orbits the Sun at an average distance of 1.5 Astronomical Units (1 AU is the distance from the Sun to the Earth). Mars is regarded as the 2nd most hospitable planet for the appearance of life, after Earth. Mars is about half the size of Earth, but if you add up the land mass on Earth it is roughly equivalent to the landmass on Mars. A year on Mars is 687 Earth days. A day on Mars is 24 hours and 37 minutes, compared to a day on Earth, which is 24 hours. The axial tilt on Mars is 24o, which gives Mars seasons similar to those on Earth, whose axial tilt is 23.5o. Mars surface gravity is 1/3 of Earths. The temperatures on the Martian surface range from -87oC to 20oC. On the warmest summer day at the equator, it is room temperature.

The Moons of Mars Mars has two satellites (moons) named Phobos and Deimos. The moons are oddly shaped and look like potatoes! They are much smaller than Earths moon. Phobos and Deimos orbit Mars very quickly and are much closer to Mars than the Moon is to the Earth. The satellites are visible through some larger telescopes on Earth. Major Geographical Features of Mars Valles Marineris A 3,000 mile long Grand Canyon that looks like a giant crack on the surface of Mars. Olympus Mons The largest volcano on Mars and in the solar system, three times as high as Mt. Everest and covering an area the size of Texas!

Mars has thousands of craters covering its surface, ranging in age from billions of years old to others that are much more recent. Water and weather on Mars Telescopic observations from Earth have seen what appear to be channels on Mars for many years. Many orbiting
spacecraft have confirmed these sightings with images taken of dry river channels on the Martian surface. The landers and rovers on Mars have taken measurements, soil samples and images that have led to an overwhelming amount of data that suggests water existed on the surface of Mars, is there now in frozen form, and occasionally briefly runs across the surface when the conditions are just right. Mars has North and South Poles that are covered in ice caps. The ice caps, which grow and recede through the seasons, are made of H2O and CO2. Mars has Earth-like weather systems, including clouds, wind, dust storms and even snow! All of these wonderful facts implore us to learn even more about Mars. That glowing red beacon in the sky calls us to her. Mars, beautiful and majestic, lures us in. For those who are more Martian than Earthling, we understand -- that is one of the reasons why The Mars Society was formed.

Continued next month..

Augusts Night Sky

Image from Heavens-Above.com

This Month, Saturn can be found passing into the constellation of Virgo, moving along the ecliptic. Venus can also be found very low on the horizon at dusk, but rapidly becoming a morning object as the month progresses. Both Mars and Jupiter can be seen before dawn. August marks an excellent time for viewing of Uranus mid-month for those with larger telescopes, and a special date for this month, the 12th marks the Perseid meteor shower beginning at dawn on the 12th under a clear moonless sky. Happy Viewing!

Dont forget to check out www.onlineastronomycourses.co.uk and also that the GCSE Astronomy is now being offered at 180 check out the academy homepage for more info www.onlineastronomycourses.co.uk