EXPLORING THE RED PLANET
Award-winning science writer and documentary producer Rod Pyle tells the exciting story of Mars exploration in the new book Destination Mars: New Explorations of the Red Planet.
As New Scientist's Culture Lab blog noted, the book takes readers "through centuries of speculation, from the Babylonians through American astronomer Percival Lowell - who at the start of the 20th century popularized the idea that Mars is streaked with canals built by advanced civilizations- right up to the moment in 1965 when the first images revealed a barren, lifeless surface."
Pyle punctuates his book with interviews of numerous Mars explorers. "The author provides insights into the personalities - from cheerleaders to unsung heroes - that have transformed our understanding of the red planet," says the Coalition for Space Exploration.
And for readers curious about the future of Mars exploration, Destination Mars details the cutting-edge research that may one day lead to a human mission to Mars. Nature says, "For the Mars obsessed, the real thrills will be in his detailed descriptions of upcoming missions, the pseudo-Martian research conducted in Earth's most hostile environments, and interviews with explorers such as Steven Squyres, principal investigator of NASA's Mars Exploration Rover."
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TWICE IN A LIFETIME:
THE TRANSITS OF VENUS
Where will you be on June 5 and 6, 2012? Depending on where you live, you may be able to marvel at one of the rarest predictable astronomical phenomena - a transit of Venus, when Venus's orbit takes it directly between the earth and the sun. Depending on location, it may be possible to observe the planet (safely, of course) as a small dot crossing the face of the sun over the course of about six hours.
 | | The 2004 transit of Venus |
You may recall the 2004 transit of Venus that is the "twin" of this year's event. The previous transits were in 1874 and 1882; before that, they were in 1761 and 1769! The next time the planets will be aligned correctly for a transit will be 105 years from now.
This phenomenon, as explained in William Sheehan's and John Westfall's book The Transits of Venus, has enlightened us about the scale of our solar system. The book interweaves a discussion of the transit's scientific significance with the stories of people who went to great lengths to be a part of its legacy. For instance, Captain James Cook sailed halfway around the world to be able to take part in a viewing party, keeping his crew healthy on the long voyage by tricking them into eating sauerkraut!
The Transits of Venus has been described by Sky and Telescope as a "stirring tale of exploration" that is "splendidly informative and reliably authoritative."
Science Teacher says that it's "a narrative of fascinating voyages, political intrigue, scientific discovery, and compelling historical contexts" and "an accessible and thoroughly delightful story of a special celestial event."
If you are able to view the 2012 transit, you will be joining a legacy of astronomers and explorers who were lucky enough to be in the right place and at the right time.
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A CHANGE IN TITANIC, THANKS TO NEIL DEGRASSE TYSON
When James Cameron recently released his 1997 film Titanic in 3D, it had one notable correction, thanks to astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson, author of The Sky Is Not the Limit: Adventures of an Urban Astrophysicist. Lying on a plank in the ocean, the character Rose looks up at the stars. Tyson noticed that this was the wrong star field for the date and location and pointed this out to Cameron, a well-known perfectionist, who updated the star field for the new release. Read more here.
To learn more about Neil DeGrasse Tyson, read his memoir The Sky Is Not the Limit.
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