| No, it’s not quite War of the Worlds, but it is something of a disappointment for stargazers in Dundee who are going to miss a chance for a close-up view of the Red Planet.
The Mills Observatory on Balgay Hill is closed for refurbishment until mid-September, so its telescope will be out of action when Mars makes it closest approach to earth for almost 60,000 years.
On August 27 the two planets will be only 34.6 million miles apart. On an astronomical scale that’s pretty much side by side.
According to Dr Bill Samson from the Mills, Mars is now the second-brightest object in the night sky after our own Moon. It can be seen low in the southern sky after midnight.
Although anyone with a fairly small telescope of around 75x magnification will be able to see it clearly, far less detail will be visible to the naked eye.
The 10-inch refracting telescope at the observatory would have been ideal for planetary observation, but the £100,000 upgrade has to take priority.
The work, backed by a Heritage Lottery Fund grant, involves renovating the building’s distinctive steel-framed papier-mache dome, improving security cameras and making disabled access easier. Meanwhile, astronomers around the world are looking forward to enjoying the best view of Mars we will get from earth until 2287.
The Hubble space telescope will be taking pictures and radio waves will be beamed from ground antennas to bounce back off the Martian surface to study the terrain where a Nasa probe is due to land in January.
Although there may be no public access to the Mills during the approach, anyone wanting to see detailed photographs of our heavenly neighbour can find the latest shots taken by the Mars global surveyor probe on the internet at www.mars.jpl.nasa.gov. |
