Voodoo Time Dot Com

I’ve just gotten back from a trip outside to see this whole big Mars thing. I’m pretty sure I saw it. I just looked for the brightest thing in the sky that was not a moon. And as that object happened to be in the southeast (as Mars is wont to be at 10:00pm at this time of year), I’m just going to call that object “Mars” and consider it good and seen.

Earthlings have historically had quite a fascination with Mars. To ancient astronomers, Mars would certainly have been significant. Firstly, it is red. Secondly, these astute observers would surely have noticed that Mars moves around quite a lot in comparison to the far-flung stars and galaxies that appear as its neighbors from our vantage. Much later, magnification in the form of early telescopes would reveal the mysterious Martian geography that has made the planet a favorite of science fiction writers and enthusiasts ever since. The surface of Mars is a rugged, pock-marked wasteland of deep canyons and massive extinct volcanos covered in iron oxide, which we Earthlings revile as rust. In short, Mars ain’t no kind of place to raise a kid.

In today’s urban light-pollution, Mars is normally quite difficult to see. Its color and relatively diminuitive size compound to make it a rather unassuming little pink dot in our night sky. So it is no wonder that I never really noticed Mars until my father (from whom I inherited my science and technology geekdom) showed it to me on my 12th or 13th birthday in the telescope he bought me as a present. Even then, the red planet revealed itself only as a glowing orange dot. Still I was transfixed. We spent quite some time out there in the backyard with that telescope, a flashlight, a compass, and a couple basic star charts. We took turns pointing that telescope all over the sky, and laughing about Martians, and dreaming of the possibilities of interstellar travel. My relationship with my father was often tenuous and difficult, but in that moment we were just two earthbound idiots with our heads in the stars.

I have to admit that today I take Mars largely for granted. Even as our closest planetary neighbor passes within a scant 34.6 million miles (merely 3 light-minutes away), I’ve scarsely thought about it. But I imagine that some other kid is out past his bedtime with his dad wondering what all of the fuss is about. And maybe, like me, he’ll go to bed a different person.

Hang on to those moments, kid. They pass all too quickly.

…I think I’m going to go outside for another look.

Bye for now.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, August 26th, 2003 at 11:53 pm and is filed under Thoughts. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.