NightSky Saint Bernards - Mars

A Family Operated Kennel Dedicated To Saint Bernards

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Trenton Kennel Club 5/9/2011

Venue:   Middlesex County Park
Judge:   Mrs. Joan P. Zielinski
Place:   Reserve Winner's Dog
Points: -

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Astronomy
Mars has been known since prehistoric times. tt has been the object of study for many a ground-based telescope. But even very large telescopes find Mars a difficult target, it's just too small. It is still a favorite of science fiction writers as the most favorable place in the Solar System for habitation. First observed by Italian astronomer Giovanni Schiaparelli the famous "canals" of Mars were proposed to be an irrigation system by Percival Lowell and others. Unfortunately, these turned out to be just an optical illusion. Mars shows eveidence that there was once running water on it's surface, perhaps billions of years ago, but there is no sign of any civilization, structure, or other life. Mars plays host to the tallest mountain in the solar system, Olympus Mons, an ancient volcano, which rises 78,000 feet aboce the surface. Mars has little atmosphere, and most of that is Carbon Dioxide, with small amounts of Nitrogen and Argon, with traces of Oxygen and Water Vapor. Although very thin the atmosphere does support high winds and huge dust storms, which occasionally obscure features of the landscape. The average surface temperature is -67° F, but range widely from as little as -207° F at the winter pole to almost 80° F on the day side during summer. Mars has two moons. Phobos, the largest and closest to the planet, is so close that it can bee seen racing across the sky twice on the same day, seeming to move West to East. Phobos' time is limited, it's very proximity to the planet will be it's doom. Tidal forces drag it's orbit closer all the time, and in roughly 50 million years it will either crash into the planet or be ripped apart and possibly form a ring. Deimos, the outer and smaller moon, orbits the planet once every 30 hours, and since Mars has a 24 hours day, seems to hang in the sky for two and a half days before setting. Deimos is quite small and irregular, being only 22 KM at the largest dimension. It would appear no larger than a bright star from the planet surface.

Mythology
Mars (Greek: Ares) is the god of War. The planet probably got this name due to its red color; Mars is sometimes referred to as the Red Planet. The Roman god Mars was a god of agriculture before becoming associated with the Greek Ares. The name of the month March derives from Mars. Phobos and Deimos were the sons af Mars (Ares) and Venus (Aphrodite) and drove his chariot leaving terror, fear and panic in their wake.