Colorado Skies: Mars shines bright in October…
Colorado Skies: Mars shines bright in October skies and lore
This star chart shows the prominent constellation, bright stars and planets that can be seen from Loveland at 11 p.m. MDT at the first of October, 10 p.m. MDT at the middle of the month and 9 p.m. MDT at the end of the month. To properly use this chart, lean back and hold the chart up so that each horizon is aligned with its corresponding direction under the night sky. (Courtesy Roger B. Culver)
By Roger B. Culver |
September 26, 2020 at 10:55 p.m.
As we enter the Halloween season, it is appropriate that this month's most prominent object in the early evening sky is the storied planet Mars.
Hanging like a celestial garnet above the eastern horizon at the onset of darkness, Mars will not be this close to the Earth again until the year 2035. As a result, the Red Planet currently shines brighter than any other celestial object, save the Sun, Moon and the planet Venus, and will glow all night long in the eastern region of the constellation of Pisces during October
No object in all of astronomy is more steeped in modern legend and folklore than the planet Mars.
The Martian mythology began at the end of the 19th century, when some astronomers, most notably the American Percival Lowell, believed that the surface of Mars was crisscrossed by a vast system of "canals" built by an advanced civilization inhabiting the planet. The idea was quickly picked up by British novelist H.G. Wells, who in 1898 forged it into the classic science fiction novel "The War of the Worlds," in which the earth is invaded by Martians equipped with a technology far superior to that of earthlings.
While "The War of the Worlds" was written primarily as a stinging indictment of the rampant imperialism of the day, it also set in motion the development of a modern folklore which continues to this day and is every bit as interesting and ingenious as any ever created throughout human history.
As the mysterious Mars gleams brightly in the heavens of this year's Halloween season, one is harkened back to another Halloween eight decades ago, when the Martian mythology generated what is perhaps its most famous and intriguing manifestation.
In October 1938, the United States was mired in the Great Depression and a month earlier the French, British, Germans, and Italians concluded the infamous Munich Agreement in which then Czechoslovakia was handed over to Nazi Germany, thereby guaranteeing the world war that would come less than a year later. Such a backdrop proved to be ideal for a most talented young man named Orson Welles, who was not related to the aforementioned British novelist.
Welles was, among many other accomplishments, the voice of the radio superhero "The Shadow," would later produce, direct, and star in the movie "Citizen Kane," arguably the greatest American film ever made, and, in October 1938, was the centerpiece of a radio show called "The Mercury Theater."
On Sunday night, Oct. 30, 1938, the night before Halloween, the Mercury Theater broadcast their version of H.G. Wells' "The War of the Worlds." Instead of landing in Victorian England at the turn of the 20th century, however, Welles and his acting company realistically described a 1938 Martian descent into the New Jersey farmlands, not far from New York City.
As the broadcast unfolded, big band music was interrupted for "on the spot" updates from reporters supposedly at the scene of the Martian landings. Later in the broadcast a person identified as "the Secretary of the Interior" intoned Americans, in a suspiciously president FDR-like voice, not to panic and to stay the course in the face of this otherworld adversary.
In less than an hour it is estimated that more than 1 million listeners believed at some level the Mercury Theater presentation to be actually true.
Individuals reported seeing the fires from the Martian heat rays and, amazingly, smelling the poison gas used by the Martians.
After a few days, the uproar finally subsided, but the entire "panic broadcast" incident over the years since has been the subject of books, TV specials and even scholarly papers. In almost every instance it is agreed that a significant underpinning of Welles' impact was the Martian mythology. The invaders who landed in the New Jersey farmlands that Halloween eve night eight decades ago weren't Neptunians or Venusians. They were Martians!
It should also be noted that in this day of high-tech, highly visual media that can produce the graphic horror of a variety of monstrous villains, the Mercury Theater's presentation of "The War of the Worlds" was a radio play in which the listeners had to conjure up their own individual images of the events described to them over the airwaves. Thus, perhaps the most diabolical aspect of the Welles broadcast was the not so gentle reminder that quite often the greatest of the Halloween monsters are those that exist within each of us.
Elsewhere in the sky: The Jupiter and Saturn planetary pair can be seen due south at the beginning of darkness and to the southwest for the first half of the night. The brighter yellowish-white Jupiter is to the right and the fainter golden-hued Saturn to the left. The planet Venus continues to dominate the predawn sky, rising three hours ahead of the sun. On the morning of Oct. 2, Venus will pass to within a half-degree of the bright bluish Leo star Regulus for a fine conjunction. The Orionid meteor shower peaks on Oct. 21 and without interfering moonlight this year, should produce about 15 meteors or so after midnight if observed from a dark sky site for a few nights before and after the Oct. 21 maximum. The planet Mercury is too close to the sun to be easily seen in October.
Colorado Skies
Roger B. Culver
Roger B. Culver taught astronomy at Colorado State University for more than 50 years, and has written about the night skies for the public nearly as long. He taught more than 41,000 students prior to retiring as professor emeritus in 2016, contributed to research in his field, and helped create a new metric for light pollution. At his retirement an asteroid was named in his honor: Asteroid 29874 Rogerculver.
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