JAMES: HEY THERE STAR GAZERS.

I'M JAMES ALBURY, DIRECTOR OF THE KIKA SILVA
PLA PLANETARIUM IN GAINESVILLE, FLORIDA.

DEAN: AND I'M DEAN REGAS, ASTRONOMER FOR THE
CINCINNATI OBSERVATORY.

WE'RE HERE TO HELP YOU FIND YOUR WAY AROUND
THE SKY.

THE PLANETS OF LOVE AND WAR ARE UP IN THE
EVENING SKY TONIGHT.

IM TALKING VENUS AND MARS.

JAMES: THESE ARE THE TWO PLANETS THAT CAN
COME CLOSEST TO THE EARTH, AND THEY HAVE A

LOT IN COMMON.

DEAN: THEY'RE BOTH ROUND, ROCKY OBJECTS THAT
CIRCLE RELATIVELY CLOSE TO THE SUN.

JAMES: RELATIVELY - AT LEAST COMPARED TO THE
OUTER PLANETS, JUPITER, SATURN, URANUS, AND

NEPTUNE.

BUT WHEN YOU LOOK CLOSER AT THEM, THEY PRESENT
SOME STARTLING DIFFERENCES.

DEAN: FOR INSTANCE, MARS MIGHT BE A GOOD PLACE
TO PERSONALLY VISIT SOMEDAY, WHILE VENUS WELL YOUD

DIE PRETTY MUCH INSTANTLY ON THE SURFACE.

JAMES: AND WE HAVE SOMETHING REALLY COOL BECAUSE
THIS WEEK, VENUS WILL APPEAR CLOSE TO MARS

IN THE SKY, SO LET'S GO CHECK THEM OUT!

DEAN: OKAY, WE HAVE OUR SKY SET TO FEBRUARY
6 AT 7:30PM FACING SOUTHWEST.

YOU CAN SEE THE TWO PLANETS, VENUS AND MARS
ABOUT A THIRD OF THE WAY UP IN THE SKY.

BUT WHICH IS WHICH?

JAMES: ITS EASY!

VENUS IS THE REALLY, REALLY, REALLY BRIGHT
ONE.

IT'S SUSPICIOUSLY BRIGHT.

IT LOOKS LIKE A PLANE OR U.F.O.

COMING IN FOR A LANDING.

VENUS IS ABOUT 46 MILLION MILES FROM EARTH
THIS WEEK AND GETTING CLOSER EACH NIGHT.

DEAN: MARS IS THE FAINTER, AND PERHAPS REDDER-LOOKING
ONE UP AND TO THE LEFT OF VENUS.

IT WAS A LOT BRIGHTER BACK IN 2016 WHEN IT
WAS CLOSER TO THE EARTH.

THIS WEEK IT WILL BE OVER 175 MILLION MILES
AWAY AND GETTING FARTHER.

JAMES: RIGHT NOW VENUS AND MARS LOOK TO BE
ABOUT 5 DEGREES APART IN THE SKY.

BUT, LETS GO BACK IN TIME - BACK TO TWO MONTHS
AGO - TO SEE HOW THESE TWO PLANETS LOOKED

IN DECEMBER.

JAMES: ITS NOW DECEMBER 6 AT 7:30PM FACING
SOUTHWEST.

VENUS AND MARS ARE STILL IN THE SKY BUT THEY'RE
IN DIFFERENT POSITIONS.

LOOK, THEY'RE MUCH MORE SEPARATED.

IN FACT THEY'RE ALMOST 21 DEGREES APART.

DEAN: THIS IS WHAT MADE THE PLANETS SO FASCINATING
TO THE ANCIENT STAR GAZERS.

THEY SEEMED TO WANDER ACROSS THE BACKGROUND
STARS.

LET'S MOVE TIME FORWARD AND SEE HOW THIS PLAYS
OUT.

JAMES: HERE IS DECEMBER 15TH DECEMBER 24TH JANUARY
2ND

DEAN: HEY LOOK!

THERE'S THE WAXING CRESCENT MOON WANDERING
THROUGH OUR PLANET PAIR.

JAMES: HERE'S JANUARY 11TH JANUARY 20TH JANUARY
29TH AND BACK TO FEBRUARY 6TH AGAIN.

DEAN: WOW!

THOSE PLANETS ARE MOVING! AND AS THE DAYS
CONTINUE, VENUS WILL TURN TAIL AND HEAD AWAY

FROM MARS.

AND THEY WILL SPREAD OUT ONCE MORE.

JAMES: WERE GOING TO VISIT VENUS FIRST.

AS WE APPROACH, WE CAN SEE THAT THIS PLANET
IS ABOUT 7,500 MILES IN DIAMETER - ALMOST

THE SAME SIZE AS EARTH.

IT'S OFTEN CALLED OUR SISTER PLANET FOR THIS
VERY REASON.

DEAN: HOWEVER, THAT IS WHERE THE SIMILARITIES
END BECAUSE UNDER A THICK BLANKET OF CARBON

DIOXIDE CLOUDS LIES A BATTERED, SWELTERING
SURFACE.

ROBOTIC CRAFTS RECORDED SURFACE TEMPERATURES
OF ABOUT 900 DEGREES FAHRENHEIT.

ALSO THE AIR PRESSURE, UNDER ALL THESE CLOUDS,
WOULD BE SO INTENSE THAT THEY'D SQUISH YOU

FLAT.

JAMES: I DON'T FEEL SO GOOD

DEAN: AND FINALLY WHEN IT RAINS ON VENUS

JAMES: OH NO

DEAN: IT RAINS SULFURIC ACID.

SO THAT WOULD LEAVE ANY VISITOR TO VENUS,
LIKE JAMES OVER THERE, A MELTED, SQUISHED,

ACIDY PILE OF GOOP.

JAMES: OKAY, I THINK WE'VE SHOWED THEM ENOUGH
FROM VENUS.

WHAT DO YOU SAY WE GO TO MARS?

DEAN: GREAT IDEA!

JAMES: MARS IS A MUCH SMALLER PLANET - ONLY
ABOUT 4,200 MILES WIDE.

IT'S MUCH FARTHER FROM THE SUN SO IT'S A LOT
COLDER.

DEAN: ALTHOUGH OUR ROBOTIC VISITORS TO MARS
HAVE OCCASIONALLY RECORDED SURFACE TEMPERATURES

IN THE 70S, MOST OF THE TIME, IT'S WELL BELOW
ZERO.

AND AT NIGHT, OH MAN WATCH OUT, IT CAN DROP
TO MINUS SEVENTY.

JAMES: STILL, OUT OF THE TWO PLANETS, MARS
IS THE BETTER PLACE FOR HUMANS TO GO VISIT.

AND SOMEDAY WE MAY EVEN ESTABLISH A COLONY
ON MARS.

DEAN: SO THIS WEEK LOOK FOR BRILLIANT VENUS
NEAR RUBY-RED MARS IN THE EVENING SKY.

THEY WON'T APPEAR ANY CLOSER THAN THIS UNTIL
SEPTEMBER AND OCTOBER.

JAMES: WHEN YOU LOOK UP AND SEE THEM, YOU
CAN IMAGINE FLYING THERE AND STANDING ON THE

BROILING SURFACE OF VENUS

DEAN: OR BEING THE FIRST PERSON ON MARS AND
COLONIZING AN ENTIRE PLANET.

IT'S ALL THERE WHEN YOU

BOTH: KEEP LOOKING UP!