On November 1, 2005, Día de Todos los Santos (Halloween), I jotted down this in my "observation" log, proving that Astronomy can be both scientific, mathematical and spiritual issue, as it inexorably has been in the last 10,000 years:

I call you my "lucero" (evening star in Spanish), and you know what it means. This week Mars has reached its greatest proximity to the planet Earth -it is half of its normal distance- and you could not believe how resplendent it is. It seems more a reddish balloon than a planet; it appears early at twilight and glitters during the evening like a plane approaching, and then it lingers for long in the middle of the sky in front of the glass wall of my study room (where I practically live!) and it is you giving me sweet companionship, radiating sweetness and loving promises at night. Normally the lucero is Venus but for some time now is being Mars. Due to the difference of time between Karviná and Santiago we cannot see it simultaneously; you are already sleeping but I am sending to you by the lucero my loving waves to watch your sleep and to be in your dreams.

Raúl Hernández Olea - raul hernandez chile - raul hernandez

Astronomy Magazine Newsletter (ultimate): Mars ranks as more of a rarity. Once every 26 months or so, the Red Planet makes a grand appearance. That time is now. Mars reaches opposition and peak visibility in January, when it rightfully claims the bulk of our planet-viewing attention.

Thus, late night by the Andes in Santiago, from my spectacular home balcony at the top of my tower building, I admired Mars in an angle of 45°, sparkling as a gem, big and rose, glittering in horizontal line with the full Moon in the middle of the crystal sky. The Moon was shining powerfully nearby but not outshining Mars. It is wonderful spectacle every night here at home, and I do not need any telescope, since I have left that pleasure for my friends of this Forum Community, who deliver the proper astronomical view (but the gem by naked eye is my exclusivity!).

[Astronomy Magazine] Mars makes best appearance in two years this weekend

The Red Planet returns! Mars puts on its best show in 2 years during late January, when it glows like a beacon all night long. Astronomy magazine has all the tools you need to get the most of this great observing opportunity. [More]