This weekend, on Friday January 29th, the beautiful red planet, Mars, will be high in the sky and will be placed extremely close to the Moon for one night only as it makes its cosmic orbit by our planet – a mesmerizing sight to behold.

As well as Mars being close to the Moon on the 29th, there will be a Full Moon on the 30th, which also happens to be the closest and largest Full Moon of the year.

Astronomy Ireland will be running a Telescope Watch in Dundalk this coming Friday Night at 8pm, for further details of where to go simply log on to www.astronomy.ie or call (01) 847 0777. Everyone is welcome to attend. At the event you will be able to gaze at Mars through a very powerful telescope as well as see the Moon, star clusters and more.

Mars is one of the most breath taking planets to view through a telescope because of its reddish and orange hue. In fact, if like most households you have a pair of binoculars you can depict this red hue when you look at Mars through them. Mars looks like a red marble when viewed through a telescope, and a larger telescope will reveal its ice caps and dark, dried-up oceans. Sometimes Mars experiences violent sandstorms that cover the entire planet, hiding its surface from the eyes of astronomers on Earth.

The planet can be spotted as one of the brightest star like objects in the sky. To the naked eye this planet looks like any other star in the sky, however, once peered at through a telescope, tremendous surface detail can be detected.

 
It is also worth noting that people under darker skies should be able to make out the Great Orion Nebula - a nursery full of baby solar systems - beneath the three bright stars of Orion's Belt in the southern sky throughout the week.
 
For those of you who want to learn more about the fantastic hobby of astronomy why not sign up for Beginner Astronomy Classes which Astronomy Ireland is holding in DkIT commencing on Wednesday February 3rd. You will learn about the Moon, the Sun, planets, the history of astronomy plus much more.
To register simply log on to www.astronomy.ie or call (01) 847 0777