Health and Recreation Sphere

The Martian Sky:

The Urbain Leverrier Observatory was named after one of the scientists who discovered Neptune, the eighth planet from the sun. Not surprisingly, many Martian colonists also enjoy gazing at the stars like Mr. Leverrier. With Mars's thinner atmosphere, the night sky presents a great view. But the best thing about Martian stargazing is that it is totally different!

Because of Mars's different location in relationship to the universe, you see different things on Mars than on Earth. The outer planets (Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto) are larger, due to their closer proximity to Mars. Constellations seen on Earth cannot be seen on Mars. Instead of one moon, colonists on Mars see two, Phobos and Deimos.

Because all of the constellations designated on Earth cannot be seen on Mars, amateur Martian astronomers map out new constellations, seen only from Mars. Each new constellation has a story behind it, just like the constellations from Earth.

Go outside on clear night with a pencil and paper. Look up into the sky and make a constellation out of some of the stars that you see. You should also find a marker in the sky, like the North Star or Big Dipper, and mark where your constellation is in relationship to that marker. Map out your constellation and write the story about why it's there. If you do this activity, scan your map of your constellation and send it to us with the story behind it!