1971

In 1971, the planet Mars will attract considerable attention, from laymen and from astronomers. For, this is the year in which Mars reaches its minimum distance from the Earth, some 35 million miles on August 10. No doubt, the press will publish a full quota of stories about canals, life on Mars, and whether or not the two moons of Mars are, in fact, satellites put into orbit by a long vanished race. There will invariably be the usual rash of flying saucer tales as is customary in years of close approach.

The Fixed (?) Stars

At a recent astronomical seminar, I was reminded by a speaker that our term, the “fixed stars” is not really correct. Stars do move across the sky, their motion being a combination of two measurable quantities, "radial velocity”, or motion in the line of sight, and "proper motion", motion across the line of sight. These motions are extremely slow, although they can be measured with accurate astronomical instruments. To the unaided eye, however, the stars appear to be stationary, unless studied over a lengthy period of time.