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                                                                Example of Mars retrograde
Looking towards the west after dark in March - not far above the horizon - we find a small cluster of stars that look different to everything else in the sky.  This small group of seven stars very close together has lead to this 'open cluster' becoming commonly known as 'The Seven Sisters'. Their official astronomical name is 'The Pleiades', but is also known here in New Zealand as 'Matariki'.

Above the Pleiades, a bright red star called Aldebaran marks the eye of Taurus the Bull.  Further still, the bold constellation Orion can be found high in the sky, with its central belt of three stars pointing straight down at Aldebaran.

Almost directly overhead this month just after sunset is the brightest star in the sky, Sirius, which belongs to the constellation Canis Major, the large dog.

To the north we find the zodiac constellation of Gemini. Two bright stars, Castor and Pollux, mark the heads of the twins of Gemini. Just to the right of Gemini is a bright red object, the planet Mars.

Saturn can also be seen just above the horizon to the east, and is better seen later on in the evening as it rises higher.

To the south we find the second brightest star in the sky, Canopus, high in the sky. The Southern Cross is lying on its side to the east of south.

 

http://blogs.usatoday.com/sciencefair/2010/01/nasas-kepler-mission-finds-5-new-planets.html

A meteorite about the size of a tennis ball came through the roof of a doctor's office in Virginia recently.  Thought to be travelling about 350kph at the time of impact, it punched a hole through the roof and ceiling, but luckily narrowly missed the building's occupants.

http://www.universetoday.com/2010/01/21/meteorite-smashes-through-roof-of-doctors-office-video/#more-51647

Phoenix Mars Lander Stays Quiet

 Attempts to hear beeps of life from the Phoenix Mars Lander have so far been fruitless – but that's not so surprising. The frozen lander completed its mission in November 2008, and it was not expected to communicate again after entering a Martian winter, which only recently ended for Phoenix.  But on the off chance it exceeds expectations, NASA is listening out.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/34984419/ns/technology_and_science-space/

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The planet Mars as it appears in a small telescope

Mars at Opposition

Dr Grant Christie

Earth passed closer to Mars on January 30^th than any time since late 2007. This is the point where we say that Earth and Mars are "in opposition". Very simply this means that the Sun and Mars are opposite each other in the sky with Earth in line between them. At opposition, as the Sun sets on the western horizon, Mars rises in the east.  Earth orbits inside the orbit of Mars, completing nearly two orbits of the Sun for each one that Mars completes. Therefore, every 780 days we pass Mars on the inside track and then get to see the red planet close up.

The 2010 opposition was not a very close one with Mars still 99.3 million kilometres away.  The closest opposition in nearly 60,000 years occurred on August 29th 2003 when we came within 55.76 million kilometres making Mars appear nearly twice as large when viewed through a telescope as it is this year.  The next close opposition of Mars is not until 2018 when the separation between the planets will be only 57.6 million kilometres, nearly as good as the 2003 opposition. The reason the distances vary is because the orbits of Mars and Earth are elliptical, not circular, so the separation between the two planets depends where Earth lies on its orbit.

In the early evening you can see Mars in the north about one third of the way up from the horizon.