Apr 23 - Mars, Mars, Mars

April 23 Mars, Mars, Mars by:

1st deep-space CubeSats ready for launch to Mars Riding along with the Mars InSight mission, the 2 briefcase-sized CubeSats are designed to demonstrate nearly real-time communications between worlds. Mars Insight mission due to launch Launch window for Mars InSight opens May 5. It'll be the 1st interplanetary mission to go up from the U.S. West Coast. NASA said: "InSight's pre-dawn launch may be visible for more than 10 million Californians ... " A violent origin for Mars' moons   It was thought Mars' 2 small moons - Phobos and Deimos - might be captured asteroids. But new work suggests a violent birth for the moons during a colossal impact. Mars brighter in 2018 than since 2003 2018 is Mars' year. By July, it'll be at its brightest since 2003, when it was closer and brighter in our sky than in some 60,000 years. Find it now and watch it brighten! Next few evenings … Moon sweeps through Leo The waxing gibbous moon moves toward Leo the Lion's brightest star Regulus, then passes it. It's a good time to identify this easy-to-find constellation.

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Moon sweeps through Leo Notice the moon's location tonight with respect to the star Regulus. Then look again tomorrow night.

Want to see Mars? You can see 3 planets in April 2018 before dawn. Jupiter is brightest. Mars and Saturn are about equally bright and close together. The red star Antares lies between them. Visit EarthSky's planet guide … updated monthly. Submit your photo to EarthSky here! Did a friend forward EarthSkyNews to you? Click here to get your own subscription!

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