Starwatch Newsletter Minnesota Starwatch is a newsletter describing the night sky in the Midwest. It is updated monthly, and is produced by the Department of Astronomy, University of Minnesota 116 Church Street SE, Minneapolis, MN 55455

Mars is now slowly drifting away from the Earth, after its closest approach in 50,000 years, on August 27th. September is still a fine time to enjoy a view of our neighbor. On the evenings of September 8th and 9th, look for Mars and the Moon close together in the south. Other planets are a bit more challenging this month, but worth the effort. If you stay up very late, you can catch Saturn rising in the east after midnight, close to the Milky Way. About an hour before sunrise, look low in the east on September 23rd and 24th, when the waning crescent Moon approaches Jupiter, with Mercury slightly below and to the left. The Full Moon is on the 10th, and New Moon on the 25th.

Before bidding adieu to Mars, let's pick up on the discussion from last month. While Mars was close, NASA launched its second rover, and the two rovers will rendezvous with Mars in January. Water is one of the prime targets of those missions. Curious bright patches of emission seen by the Mars Odyssey orbiter could be towers of ice formed by vapor released from volcanic vents, which freezes upon hitting the frigid atmosphere. These would be great places to search in the future for microbial life. Some scientists believe that Mars once had enough water to form an ocean one km deep across the entire globe. Although a significant amount of water still resides in Mars' polar caps, if there was a deep ancient ocean, most of the water must now be locked underground, perhaps as ice. One of the hottest topics under debate today is whether the gullies seen on steep slopes such as crater rims were recently cut by water from underground. As we continue to explore the red planet, we hope to unlock the mysteries of its past and present, and perhaps life-giving, water.

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This has been Minnesota Starwatch, produced by the University of Minnesota Astronomy Dept.

Last Updated: Wed Sep 3 11:56:16 2003