WEBVTT FILE 1 00:00:00.180 --> 00:00:04.360 Voice: Well this is a great weekend to go outside and look up in the night sky 2 00:00:04.360 --> 00:00:08.550 and that's because Mars is going to be shining bigger and brighter than any other time 3 00:00:08.550 --> 00:00:12.560 in the past two years, as it approaches the closest point in it's orbit 4 00:00:12.560 --> 00:00:16.560 to Earth, no fancy telescopes are needed. You'll be able to go outside and see Mars 5 00:00:16.560 --> 00:00:20.750 with the naked eye. Here to tell us how we can see Mars this weekend and 6 00:00:20.750 --> 00:00:24.760 also show a new image that the Hubble Space Telescope just took, is Dr. Michelle Thaller 7 00:00:24.760 --> 00:00:28.800 at NASA's at Goddard Space Flight Center, thanks for joining us. Michelle: Great to be here, thank you! 8 00:00:28.800 --> 00:00:32.990 Voice: So start by telling us how can we go outside and see Mars this weekend? 9 00:00:32.990 --> 00:00:37.000 Michelle: Well there's a wonderful opportunity to get a beautiful view of a big bright Mars this weekend 10 00:00:37.000 --> 00:00:41.150 and that's because Mars is at opposition, which means it's on the opposite side of 11 00:00:41.150 --> 00:00:45.330 the sky than the Sun. So as the Sun sets, you'll see both the full moon 12 00:00:45.330 --> 00:00:49.390 and Mars rising in the South Eastern sky, and probably the easiest way to find it is to look 13 00:00:49.390 --> 00:00:53.570 for the full moon. Now opposition means that Earth and Mars are on the same 14 00:00:53.570 --> 00:00:57.750 side of the sun, and that means we're the closest that we get to each other in our orbits. 15 00:00:57.750 --> 00:01:01.840 And that's why Mars seems to look bigger to us and that means brighter in the sky as well 16 00:01:01.840 --> 00:01:05.920 So this weekend Mars will be beautifully big, red, easy 17 00:01:05.920 --> 00:01:09.920 to find and it will be the closest we get to Mars for quite some time 18 00:01:09.920 --> 00:01:13.920 Voice: Now I understand the Hubble Space Telescope just took a new image of Mars 19 00:01:13.920 --> 00:01:18.000 Show us this new image. Michelle: Well that's right, so the Hubble Space Telescope 20 00:01:18.000 --> 00:01:22.050 can also take advantage of this close approach of Mars. So all the way from Earth 21 00:01:22.050 --> 00:01:26.220 orbit we took this beautiful new image of Mars. And you can see things 22 00:01:26.220 --> 00:01:30.280 like vast deserts that are thousands of miles across. The darker areas 23 00:01:30.280 --> 00:01:34.280 are bedrock. And one of the things I particularly love about this image are the clouds 24 00:01:34.280 --> 00:01:38.460 the bright wispy areas you see are indeed clouds. Including 25 00:01:38.460 --> 00:01:42.470 a beautiful collection of them above an extinct volcano called Syrtis Major. 26 00:01:42.470 --> 00:01:46.650 and that's over on the right hand side of he image a gorgeous new image from Hubble. 27 00:01:46.650 --> 00:01:50.790 Voice: When you think of Hubble you often think of far away galaxies but actually 28 00:01:50.790 --> 00:01:54.880 hubble has been instrumental in taking images of planets right here in our solar system. 29 00:01:54.880 --> 00:01:58.880 Talk about some of the things you've learned about our solar system. 30 00:01:58.880 --> 00:02:02.910 Michelle: Well that's right, Hubble is a wonderful tool to explore the nearer universe as well, and we've taken pictures 31 00:02:02.910 --> 00:02:06.930 of so many different planets. This is a movie of Jupiter which is made from Hubble 32 00:02:06.930 --> 00:02:10.970 images, it's incredible. That's actually not an artist's animation. That's real Hubble images 33 00:02:10.970 --> 00:02:14.990 and we've also looked at things like Saturn. You're seeing the southern light 34 00:02:14.990 --> 00:02:19.110 the aurora's of the south pole of Saturn, seen in ultraviolet light 35 00:02:19.110 --> 00:02:23.290 and the Hubble Space Telescope also discovered four of the five moons of Pluto. 36 00:02:23.290 --> 00:02:27.300 and that meant that we were ready to view these moons when New Horizons 37 00:02:27.300 --> 00:02:31.460 flew by Pluto in 2015, So all the way from our solar system 38 00:02:31.460 --> 00:02:35.470 to even deeper sky objects, The Hubble Space Telescope is absolutely at the top of it's game 39 00:02:35.470 --> 00:02:39.490 right now. VOICE: Hubble has been in orbit now for 40 00:02:39.490 --> 00:02:43.520 twenty-six years, which is pretty incredible. talk about what is next for the telescope 41 00:02:43.520 --> 00:02:47.620 Michelle: Well that's right the last servicing mission for Hubble was in 2009 42 00:02:47.620 --> 00:02:51.640 and when that happened we replaced a number of the cameras and instruments and other things 43 00:02:51.640 --> 00:02:55.810 so the Hubble Telescope is well prepared for a life 2020 and beyond. 44 00:02:55.810 --> 00:02:59.880 Taking pictures of stars and distant galaxies 45 00:02:59.880 --> 00:03:04.020 studying the universe from our solar system to the most distant edges. 46 00:03:04.020 --> 00:03:08.030 in 2018 Hubble will be joined by the James Webb Space Telescope, a new giant 47 00:03:08.030 --> 00:03:12.220 space telescope which will actually see the universe in a different way using infrared 48 00:03:12.220 --> 00:03:16.230 or heat light. And we'll have these two wonderful telescopes working side by side 49 00:03:16.230 --> 00:03:20.390 Voice: Great thanks so much. Where can we see more of Hubble's images including 50 00:03:20.390 --> 00:03:24.400 the new image of Mars. Michelle: Well that's right for all the images 51 00:03:24.400 --> 00:03:28.410 taken by Hubble you can actually go to NASA.gov/hubble 52 00:03:28.410 --> 00:03:32.480 you can also follow us on twitter @nasa_Hubble 53 00:03:32.480 --> 00:03:36.560 see the many millions of observations that Hubble has done 54 00:03:36.560 --> 00:03:40.740 and take a look at the universe from the solar system to the very edges. 55 00:03:40.740 --> 00:03:44.750 56 00:03:44.750 --> 00:03:47.761 Voice: Great, thanks so much for joining us. Michelle: Thanks for having me.