Crash Course Astronomy: Mars

I’m pretty sure I’ve seen every single science-fiction movie made about Mars. Angry Red Planet, John Carter, Mars Attacks!, and the best of them all, War of the Worlds (the George Pal 1953 version, duh).

But sometimes, truth is cooler than fiction. The planet Mars may not have wild Victorian civilizations with any princesses named Dejah Thoris, but it has a lot of other amazing features. And the best part? It’s fact, not fiction.

So explore Mars with me in this week’s episode of Crash Course Astronomy: Mars.

Unfortunately, Mars is on the other side of the Sun from us, close enough in the sky that it sets about an hour after the Sun does. That makes it really hard to see, and it won’t be up high enough to spot in the morning before sunrise until later in the summer. But if you want to find more, you can search my blog for posts about the Curiosity rover, and the HiRISE camera on the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, and just about Mars itself.

I suspect that’ll be enough to keep you reading until the Red Planet is visible once again.