Mars Party

Our friends have suggested that tomorrow night we have a Mars-viewing party. It's ideally timed, seeing as Mars is on his closest approach to Earth until 2023. Reports of Mars being the size of the moon, however, are greatly exaggerated. To the naked eye, he will look like a bright, orange-yellow star. I'm not sure if my telescope will resolve him powerfully enough to see surface features (assuming there isn't another planet-wide dust storm, which sometimes happens there).

But it's been a while since I've seen our friends so I'm happy to use the excuse to get together with them. I'll need to be sure to set the new DVD-R device to record my favorite show, which is on Friday nights, but that shouldn't be a big deal. It'll be fun to have people over and visit with our friends.