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CNN Live At Daybreak
Surfing Into Space: Great Extraterrestrial Web Sites
Aired June 22, 2001 - 08:50 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
COLLEEN MCEDWARDS, CNN ANCHOR: If you like space, we've got a great "Surfing Into Saturday" segment for you. As you may have heard, Mars is sort of cozying up to earth a little bit.
Miles O'Brien is here to tell us more about all that.
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN SPACE CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Mars is in opposition, which does not reflect any political realities -- Mars is not opposing us, per se, but Mars is lined up just perfectly. Think of as if the sun were behind our back, and we were looking out towards space -- and there you would find Mars. But what makes this opposition more interesting than others -- they happen every couple of years -- this is the closest opposition in about 13 years.
Have you had a chance to see Mars yet?
MCEDWARDS: I haven't seen it with my eye because I go to bed when it's still light out, but I've seen some of the images of it. It looks awesome.
O'BRIEN: It's pretty startling. I saw it the other day up in the north Georgia mountains. It rose up. I thought it was the red light of an airline. In fact, it was Mars.
MCEDWARDS: That red?
O'BRIEN: It was really interesting.
There are some places to go on the Web if you want to find out a little bit more about Mars, how to find out and how to look at it.
Let's start off with a non-Nasa site. This is called solarviews.com. On this site you'll see all kinds of information and background information on planets, all of the solar system planets, including mars.
And then check out this image, a little better than I saw up in the north Georgia mountains, but it gives you a sense of the surface of this planet. I don't know if you know the story, but back in 19th century, there was an astronomer by the name of Schiaparelli who took a look at Mars and saw what he thought were canals.
MCEDWARDS: Right, and that sparked the whole debate.
O'BRIEN: That sparked the debate as to whether there were little green men on Mars.
If you want to get a little bit closer to Mars, one of the big advantages is the Hubble Space Telescope, which is in low earth orbit. Some spectacular images at this site. And it gives you a 3-D movie picture which has been compiled over a series of time since Hubbell has space, showing you views from the poles and along the equator.
MCEDWARDS: Why is it so red, Miles?
O'BRIEN: We've just had the blue screen of death, Colleen.
MCEDWARDS: Oh, dear I think we've crashed the system.
O'BRIEN: We are in deep, deep trouble here. We did crash the system.
But if you can only imagine those wonderful pictures.
MCEDWARDS: Why is it so red?
O'BRIEN: Basically, it's oxidation. There's essentially what would be hydrogen peroxide in atmosphere. That reacts with the soil and creates kind of a rusty tone, and that's why you get that red image.
MCEDWARDS: And the reason we see it so much redder now is because it is, in its orbit, physically closer to us.
O'BRIEN: It is as close as it get. It has a highly elliptical orbit. It's about three times more elliptical than we are. Think of ourselves on a racetrack, if you will, going around the sun. We're on the inside track; Mars is on the outside tack. Every now and then it squeezes in a little bit closer to us. With the sun at just the right angle, you get that spectacular image. It's now in the 40-million- mile range, which really is a long way, of course, still, but nevertheless a lot closer to home.
MCEDWARDS: Just remind us again, if we do want to have a look at it over the next few days, where do we look at the sky?
O'BRIEN: Look in southern sky. I saw it just after the sun set. The sky was getting dark, and all of a sudden, up popped this bright red lot. I thought it was a radio tower or an airplane. Got the binoculars out and took a look and sure enough it was Mars, so it is a spectacular sight. We have clear weather this weekend. We invite you to go out and look.
I would love to show you the other Web sites out there. Jet Propulsion Laboratory is great, as is "Sky and Telescope" magazine -- excellent places. There's also a place out there called badastronomy.com, where they dispel myths and notions about the planets. For example, the face on Mars and other items which have come up.
(CROSSTALK)
MCEDWARDS: If your computer at home doesn't crash, like ours just did, check out those sites. They're great.
Thanks so much, Miles.
O'BRIEN: Bye-bye.
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