marsfest ATTACKS!

The holidays may come a little early this year for amateur astronomers: Mars is closer to Earth than it has been in 50,000 years, and area astronomers are celebrating. \nThe IU Astronomy Department is sponsoring Marsfest!, which will feature speakers, open hours at the Kirkwood Observatory's newly renovated 12-inch telescope and an appearance by the Bedford Stonebelt Stargazers, a local amateur astronomy group. \nThe planet will be closest at midnight tonight. Mars, which will appear a bright orange, will move across the southern sky starting around 9 p.m. \n"After the moon, it's the brightest thing in the sky," professor of Astronomy Caty Pilachowski said. "You can't see the disk, but it will be incredibly bright."\nAlthough a simple telescope or binoculars will aid seeing the planet, it will be easily visible with the naked eye. \nThe Stonebelt Stargazers will be offering telescope access starting at 9:30 p.m. in the parking lot between Sixth and Seventh Streets off Indiana Avenue. \nRon Reuter, a member of the Stargazers, said the three-year-old group is dedicated to increasing interest in astronomy, and he said he hopes the Mars event will help further that mission. \n"When something like this hits the news, it brings astronomy into people's lives," Reuter said. "Mars is a tough planet to observe, and it being this close makes it a lot easier."\nMars will be bright in the sky because it will be at its perihelion, or closest point to the sun, and the Earth will be at its aphelion, or its farthest point from the sun. The combination of the two positions allows Mars and Earth to get extremely close.\nMarsfest! will also be touching on a subject a little closer to popular culture: the possibility of life on Mars. Associate Professor Emeritus of Astronomy Martin Burkhead will be speaking on the subject. \n"(Burkhead will) take us back to some of the earliest ideas about life on Mars," Pilachowski said. "He'll be showing some of Percival Lowell's drawings, and he has an audio clip of H.G. Wells' 'Invasion From Mars.'"\nIn 1938, Orson Wells broadcast a portion of H.G. Wells' "War of the Worlds" as a mock radio broadcast and caused mass hysteria among those who thought that Earth was being invaded by Martians. \nAstronomy professor Richard Durisen said he believes much of the interest in Mars stems from our lack of information about the planet.\n"There is a lot of uncertainty about Mars," he said. "We've only had three successful landings on Mars, so it's all remote sensing by Earth or space-based telescopes or orbiters and three landers. That's why Mars is subject to such extensive exploration; that's why people are so fascinated by it."\n-- Contact staff writer Kehla West at krwest@indiana.edu.