Watch Mars buzz past a swarm of stars

Hello local stargazers and space enthusiasts! NASA's Mars Phoenix touches down on the Red Planet's north polar plain tomorrow, Sunday May 25th a little before 5 p.m. If you'd like to follow the landing, on the internet or television here's a one stop link: http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/index.cfm. From here you can click on NASA TV, view the landing schedule and news briefing schedule, blogs and more. Here is a list of museums with Mars Phoenix programming in case you'd like to participate in a group event. http://marsprogram.jpl.nasa.gov/events/Mars_Events.html Follow Phoenix on Twitter and Facebook http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/phoenix/release.php?ArticleID=1700 If the clouds clear tonight or Sunday night, why not step outside and look up! Mars is easy to see in the early evening sky right now. With binoculars or telescopes on Sunday night, you'll spot Mars near the edge of the Beehive cluster, Messier 44. Tonight, Mars will appear to be a red star against the fainter stars of the cluster. Here's a little Mars-gazing feature I wrote yesterday: http://solarsystem.nasa.gov/scitech/display.cfm?ST_ID=2109 Jane - who will be supporting the Phoenix landing tomorrow at JPL - let's all send Phoenix a big good luck for a soft landing tomorrow! -- Jane Houston Jones Monrovia, CA 34.2048N 118.1732W, 637.0 feet http://www.whiteoaks.com Old Town Astronomers: http://www.otastro.org