0:00:28 > 0:00:32Good evening. This is a good time to talk about Mars. The red planet,
0:00:32 > 0:00:36possibly the most interesting in the entire solar system,
0:00:36 > 0:00:40and the planet least unlike the Earth.
0:00:40 > 0:00:42Just a few words about it.
0:00:42 > 0:00:45It's the fourth planet out from the sun, smaller than Earth,
0:00:45 > 0:00:50but bigger than the moon, has a thin atmosphere, and life?
0:00:50 > 0:00:53Well, we don't yet know. Nothing very advanced.
0:00:53 > 0:00:56As first views go, you can see the main markings.
0:00:56 > 0:01:00The dark areas, the white polar caps, and the red deserts.
0:01:00 > 0:01:02There was a time
0:01:02 > 0:01:05when the dark markings were thought of as seas and the polar caps
0:01:05 > 0:01:07a thin layer of hoar frost,
0:01:07 > 0:01:11although they are solidly carbon dioxide.
0:01:11 > 0:01:12We know much better now.
0:01:12 > 0:01:14I've been drawing Mars and so has Paul Abel.
0:01:14 > 0:01:17- Good evening, Paul.- Hi, Patrick.
0:01:17 > 0:01:18Paul, what have you been seeing?
0:01:18 > 0:01:21Some very interesting features on Mars.
0:01:21 > 0:01:24When Mars is up close, even your three-inch refractor
0:01:24 > 0:01:25will show quite a bit of detail.
0:01:25 > 0:01:27- Mars is smaller than Earth.- Yeah.
0:01:27 > 0:01:30Further away from the sun, a much longer year,
0:01:30 > 0:01:31but it spins quite quickly.
0:01:31 > 0:01:34Its day's only half an hour longer than ours.
0:01:34 > 0:01:36That's right and this is quite interesting.
0:01:36 > 0:01:39If you go out and observe Mars on successive nights,
0:01:39 > 0:01:41you get this retro rotation.
0:01:41 > 0:01:43To see the whole surface, you need three weeks.
0:01:43 > 0:01:48Over the course of those three weeks you'll see four distinct faces.
0:01:48 > 0:01:52There's the Syrtis Major region, there's the Sinus Sabaeus region,
0:01:52 > 0:01:57the Thatsis region within the geology, and then the dull
0:01:57 > 0:02:00and unintersting side with the deserts in.
0:02:00 > 0:02:03I think perhaps the most striking feature on Mars
0:02:03 > 0:02:07- must be the Syrtis Major.- Oh, yes. Was once called the Hourglass Sea.
0:02:07 > 0:02:08- Also named the Kaiser Sea. - It was indeed.
0:02:08 > 0:02:13But Syrtis Major is quite a stark contrast feature on the planet Mars.
0:02:13 > 0:02:16It was one of the first recorded observations.
0:02:16 > 0:02:18Christiaan Huygens recorded Syrtis Major in 1659.
0:02:18 > 0:02:21I've seen it easily with your three-inch refractor
0:02:21 > 0:02:24and a good telescope will show progressively more.
0:02:24 > 0:02:27Huygens, of course, didn't know what it was. It's a plateau.
0:02:27 > 0:02:29It is a plateau, yes.
0:02:29 > 0:02:32As you said earlier on, the earlier thinking
0:02:32 > 0:02:36was that these dark places on Mars where thought to be vegetation.
0:02:36 > 0:02:39- We now know that's not true. - We must mention the Martian canal.
0:02:39 > 0:02:43Percival Lowell, he used a big telescope, which I've used myself.
0:02:43 > 0:02:45So have I. The Lowell is a great telescope.
0:02:45 > 0:02:48And he drew Mars, and he drew straight,
0:02:48 > 0:02:51artificial-looking lines which he believed were canals
0:02:51 > 0:02:53dug by intelligent Martians.
0:02:53 > 0:02:56He did, he did. Sadly, he was fooled, wasn't he? His eyesight...
0:02:56 > 0:02:59Clearly tricks of the eye.
0:02:59 > 0:03:01Moving away from Syrtis Major, we have
0:03:01 > 0:03:04that lovely, curving feature, Sinus Sabaeus.
0:03:04 > 0:03:05- That's a beauty.- A lovely feature.
0:03:05 > 0:03:09And then just next to that, we have one of my favourite regions,
0:03:09 > 0:03:11which is Mare Acidalium and Erythraeum
0:03:11 > 0:03:14and, of course, the Chryse region, which we think
0:03:14 > 0:03:16may have been a sea at one point.
0:03:16 > 0:03:19- And don't forget Hellas.- Hellas.
0:03:19 > 0:03:20In the early days,
0:03:20 > 0:03:23it was thought Hellas was an enormously bright peak.
0:03:23 > 0:03:24A snow-covered peak.
0:03:24 > 0:03:27- Now it's a deep plateau. - The deepest basin on Mars.
0:03:27 > 0:03:30From the Northern region, it can look like an extra polar cap.
0:03:30 > 0:03:34It can, especially when the Northern hemisphere is well presented.
0:03:34 > 0:03:38Hellas can look very bright indeed. Next, we have the Tharsis region.
0:03:38 > 0:03:40- There we have the great volcanoes. - Absolutely.
0:03:40 > 0:03:43Olympus Mons is visible in your 15-inch reflector.
0:03:43 > 0:03:45We didn't know what it was.
0:03:45 > 0:03:47No, but know we know it's one of the large volcanoes.
0:03:47 > 0:03:51No one knew that before the first spacecraft went there.
0:03:51 > 0:03:54The first really good close-up view was obtained in 1970.
0:03:54 > 0:03:57Three times the height of Everest.
0:03:57 > 0:04:04- And you get this lovely sort of W shaped or M shaped cloud regions that form.- The great question is,
0:04:04 > 0:04:07are they active now? They are certainly dormant,
0:04:07 > 0:04:10they may be extinct, but I'm not too sure about that.
0:04:10 > 0:04:15- Hopefully spacecraft of the future will let us know.- Not active now.
0:04:15 > 0:04:20Volcanoes on Mars are very tall and very massive because there are no great tectonics there.
0:04:20 > 0:04:25- No.- On Earth, the volcanoes sit on great tectonics, but on Mars they don't.
0:04:25 > 0:04:30One of the interesting things, as much as the drawings reveal a lot of the structre, you yourself made maps,
0:04:30 > 0:04:35lots of people made maps of the Martian surface. The spacecraft really revealed the geology of Mars.
0:04:35 > 0:04:41For example, in the Tharsis region we have this enormous grand canyon region that goes through Tharsis.
0:04:41 > 0:04:46- A huge thing.- You could fit most of America in it, it's an unbelievable place.
0:04:46 > 0:04:49I've been observing Mars for many years, from my own observatory
0:04:49 > 0:04:53and from some of the world's largest telescopes, including Lowell's.
0:04:53 > 0:04:57But you can also see a good deal with much smaller telescopes.
0:04:57 > 0:05:00And on Hampstead Heath, there's a nice little observatory
0:05:00 > 0:05:04open to the public where there is a six-inch refractor,
0:05:04 > 0:05:06and it's very popular.
0:05:06 > 0:05:10Quite recently, Pete and Paul paid a visit there.
0:05:10 > 0:05:13OK, so here we are in London.
0:05:13 > 0:05:16Who'd have thought you've got a big observatory like this
0:05:16 > 0:05:18- in the middle of London? - Good, isn't it?
0:05:18 > 0:05:20- Did Patrick come here? - He did. I think in '57.
0:05:20 > 0:05:22He came here to make some Mars drawings
0:05:22 > 0:05:25with a six-inch Cooke refractor. Very good for planetary drawings.
0:05:25 > 0:05:30Absolutely perfect. If it's clear tonight, we might get a view of Jupiter, as well.
0:05:33 > 0:05:36Doug Daniels is president of the Hampstead Scientific Society,
0:05:36 > 0:05:39which has been looking at the stars and planets since 1910.
0:05:39 > 0:05:43The observatory is run by volunteers and relies on donations
0:05:43 > 0:05:45to keep it going.
0:05:45 > 0:05:48It's open to the public from September to April,
0:05:48 > 0:05:50two nights a week and a Sunday morning.
0:05:50 > 0:05:53And, of course, the planets are very popular.
0:05:53 > 0:05:56Mars has been a particular fascination
0:05:56 > 0:06:01and Hampstead astronomers have been observing it for the past 100 years.
0:06:01 > 0:06:05- And there it is.- Oh, isn't that fantastic?- It's lovely, isn't it?
0:06:05 > 0:06:08- We've clear skies.- We should see the planets tonight.- You think so?
0:06:08 > 0:06:12- It's cold.- You're never prepared. - I know, I'm hopeless. After you.
0:06:12 > 0:06:16- Hello, Doug.- Hello, Paul. - Thanks for inviting us.- Hello, Doug.
0:06:16 > 0:06:20- Nice to see you.- So you're in charge of this magnificent instrument?
0:06:20 > 0:06:24Yes, I've been in charge for more years than I care to remember.
0:06:24 > 0:06:29It's a lovely six inch refracter. Can you tell us when it was first established?
0:06:29 > 0:06:34Well, the optimum tube assembly itself was built by Thomas Cooke of York in about 1899,
0:06:34 > 0:06:41and it was presented to the society by a generous member, George Avenell, in 1923.
0:06:41 > 0:06:44The observatory itself was established on this site in 1910,
0:06:44 > 0:06:46- so last year we celebrated the centenary.- Fantastic.
0:06:46 > 0:06:50It has always been part of our brief to open this observatory to members of the public,
0:06:50 > 0:06:55so that they get access to an astronomical telescope, and we've been doing that
0:06:55 > 0:06:58on clear Friday and Saturday evenings and Sunday mornings,
0:06:58 > 0:07:00and we've been doing that for 100 years now.
0:07:00 > 0:07:04So you've covered a lot of astronomical events. Haley's Comet, Shoemaker Levy 9.
0:07:04 > 0:07:08Haley's Comet was seen twice from this observatory, the orignal pass in 1910,
0:07:08 > 0:07:13and then in 1986, when we had about 1,000 people queueing up in the freezing cold to see it.
0:07:13 > 0:07:16Generally speaking, we use the telescope now
0:07:16 > 0:07:20for looking at solar system objects, the moon and planets.
0:07:20 > 0:07:24- Later on, hopefully, we'll see Jupiter.- That would be fantastic.
0:07:24 > 0:07:26- The sky is clear. - Hopefully it stays that way.
0:07:26 > 0:07:29Unfortunately, we won't see Mars, because that doesn't rise here
0:07:29 > 0:07:33- until quite early in the morning. - I noticed earlier you had a logbook
0:07:33 > 0:07:35with some wonderful old Mars drawings.
0:07:35 > 0:07:38- Can we have a look at them? - Yes, you can.
0:07:38 > 0:07:42- We have drawings dating right the way back to 1910.- Good grief.
0:07:42 > 0:07:45And there are some reports and everything else there.
0:07:45 > 0:07:48Look at the colour of these. They're superb, aren't they?
0:07:48 > 0:07:50Thank you very much. Those two are mine.
0:07:50 > 0:07:53Oh, well done! Very good!
0:07:53 > 0:07:58It's not surprising that mars is so interesting, because it's the only planet int he solar system
0:07:58 > 0:08:02- apart from ours that we can see the surface of.- Absolutely! And it's very similar to the Earth.
0:08:02 > 0:08:04- In some ways.- A day is similar to us, it has seasons.
0:08:04 > 0:08:07- Hopefully we'll catch Jupiter later on.- With any luck.
0:08:07 > 0:08:11And we'll get a good view, this telescope gives good definition on planets.
0:08:15 > 0:08:17'While we wait for night to fall and Jupiter to rise,
0:08:17 > 0:08:21'Pete and I have some fun things for you to look at over November.'
0:08:21 > 0:08:25- Oh, it's definitely a bit nippy. - How about here?- This'll do.
0:08:25 > 0:08:29Jupiter is the obvious thing we should mention first, Pete.
0:08:29 > 0:08:30Very, very bright object.
0:08:30 > 0:08:33It's incredibly bright and if you go out sort of
0:08:33 > 0:08:36in the later part of the night, there it is, very high up,
0:08:36 > 0:08:38very prominent in the sky.
0:08:38 > 0:08:41It was at opposition at the end of October and that's the point
0:08:41 > 0:08:43when it's actually in the opposite part of the sky to the sun.
0:08:43 > 0:08:47And quite a good opposition.
0:08:47 > 0:08:50That's approximately about a 30th of the diameter of the moon.
0:08:50 > 0:08:53- That's quite impressive for a planet. - It's still quite impressive.
0:08:53 > 0:08:55Some very fascinating details on Jupiter.
0:08:55 > 0:08:57The great red spot's quite prominent.
0:08:57 > 0:09:01- The southern equatorial belt's come back.- It has.- We've got these storms.
0:09:01 > 0:09:03We've got these amazing bargees.
0:09:03 > 0:09:06- Very dark spots.- Dark spots which have been spread out.
0:09:06 > 0:09:09There's some very prominent ones in the north equatorial belt.
0:09:09 > 0:09:11Very interesting objects.
0:09:11 > 0:09:14It's an amazing planet to look at, it really is.
0:09:14 > 0:09:16Well, that's Jupiter. Moving on now to Mars.
0:09:16 > 0:09:20Mars is making a bit of a comeback in the night sky. You have a nice event
0:09:20 > 0:09:25- you've picked out for us.- I have. - Well, we think it's nice.- It is nice.
0:09:25 > 0:09:28It's actually quite striking, because what's going to happen
0:09:28 > 0:09:31is Mars is going to move very close to the bright star
0:09:31 > 0:09:34in Leo the lion, which is Regulus.
0:09:34 > 0:09:36Regulus sits at the bottom of a backward question mark
0:09:36 > 0:09:41of stars known as The Sickle, so that's quite easy to identify it.
0:09:41 > 0:09:44Both Regulus and Mars will be about the same brightness
0:09:44 > 0:09:48and get really close on the morning of the 11th, so you have to get up
0:09:48 > 0:09:52in the early morning, about 5.30am, if you can face that.
0:09:52 > 0:09:56There's no real cosmic significance, but what really stands out
0:09:56 > 0:09:59- is the contrasting colour. - Yes, of course.
0:09:59 > 0:10:02Because Mars looks very red and Regulus looks sort of whitey-blue.
0:10:02 > 0:10:05It's really striking when they're close together.
0:10:05 > 0:10:08I've never seen that grouping before.
0:10:08 > 0:10:11- Definitely worth seeing. - A photographic opportunity there.
0:10:11 > 0:10:15So early morning of the 11th. You'll see it several days either side
0:10:15 > 0:10:16and it'll look really impressive.
0:10:16 > 0:10:19I'll keep a look out for that.
0:10:19 > 0:10:22- Moving on, we have the planet Saturn. - It's coming back.
0:10:22 > 0:10:26And it's well-tilted, so the rings are really well on display.
0:10:26 > 0:10:28It's tilted by about 14 degrees,
0:10:28 > 0:10:32so that means it's the north pole of the planet has been tilted over,
0:10:32 > 0:10:35and the rings appear to open up to us.
0:10:35 > 0:10:39Over the last year or so, they've been looking really quite thin.
0:10:39 > 0:10:42- That's right. - But now they're really quite chunky.
0:10:42 > 0:10:44Of course, we had that storm, didn't we?
0:10:44 > 0:10:46- The Dragon Storm. - Oh, that was amazing.
0:10:46 > 0:10:49It spread right the way around the planet.
0:10:49 > 0:10:50It looked beautiful in blue light.
0:10:50 > 0:10:53What will the legacy of that storm be?
0:10:53 > 0:10:55- It's always worth having a look. - Can't wait!
0:10:55 > 0:11:00100 years ago, Hampstead was a lovely dark site, clear of London smog.
0:11:00 > 0:11:05But now light pollution is a challenge for the astronomers.
0:11:05 > 0:11:07But that does not put off the observatory regulars,
0:11:07 > 0:11:10who wander in to see the planets and our moon.
0:11:10 > 0:11:14Jon Culshaw is a local and has come to find out more
0:11:14 > 0:11:17about his favourite planet, Mars.
0:11:17 > 0:11:20- Ah, there you are.- Oh, Jon Culshaw.
0:11:20 > 0:11:23Hello, Jon.
0:11:23 > 0:11:25Let me deactivate this.
0:11:25 > 0:11:28- Yes.- My own portable light pollution.
0:11:28 > 0:11:31- Works very well, Jon. - How are you doing?
0:11:31 > 0:11:34- This is your stomping ground, isn't it?- Yes, this is.
0:11:34 > 0:11:37This is my local observatory. Great to have you here.
0:11:37 > 0:11:39What a fantastic telescope to have access to.
0:11:39 > 0:11:43- And a wonderful clear night as well. - It is. Jupiter's peeking up.
0:11:43 > 0:11:46Yes, as if it's reported for duty.
0:11:46 > 0:11:50- PATRICK MOORE IMPRESSION:- I'm very happy about that. Yes, very happy.
0:11:50 > 0:11:54- And of course, we're getting ready for the return of Mars.- Yes.
0:11:54 > 0:11:56Looking at Mars through a telescope,
0:11:56 > 0:11:58it's often quite a disappointing thing to look at
0:11:58 > 0:12:02first time out. I remember my first view of Mars,
0:12:02 > 0:12:04I thought my telescope was broken, I have to say.
0:12:04 > 0:12:07What you get is this sort of pinkish blob.
0:12:07 > 0:12:09Yes, it can be fuzzy, can't it?
0:12:09 > 0:12:13You don't see much details on it. You really have to let your eye
0:12:13 > 0:12:17get in with Mars. Also, if you've got your own telescope
0:12:17 > 0:12:20and you keep it in the living room, or the kitchen,
0:12:20 > 0:12:24you need to take it outside and give it time to cool down.
0:12:24 > 0:12:27That's the biggest hurdle a lot of people fall over at.
0:12:27 > 0:12:30When it's warm, you get air currents inside it
0:12:30 > 0:12:32and that makes the view fuzzy, as well.
0:12:32 > 0:12:35When you do that, If you get a really good, stable viewing,
0:12:35 > 0:12:39Mars is high up and you've let the telescope cool down,
0:12:39 > 0:12:41that's when you can get this beautiful view of Mars
0:12:41 > 0:12:44which almost looks like it's a sketch that's been cut out of a book
0:12:44 > 0:12:46and stuck on the end of the telescope!
0:12:46 > 0:12:49But you've seen Mars through this?
0:12:49 > 0:12:53I do remember one view, about 18 months ago,
0:12:53 > 0:12:57when the view of Mars looked just like those early diagrams.
0:12:57 > 0:13:01- Oh, yeah.- The polar caps, the canals. I love it when it looks like that.
0:13:01 > 0:13:06- You didn't see canals, Jon.- No, no.
0:13:06 > 0:13:08- The formations that were mistaken for it.- Yeah.
0:13:08 > 0:13:10From a distance, you'd think a visitor
0:13:10 > 0:13:14from another world would see the Earth and Mars
0:13:14 > 0:13:17and imagine it was hot and cold.
0:13:18 > 0:13:21'Well, we won't be seeing Mars tonight, as it's not appearing
0:13:21 > 0:13:23'until three in the morning.
0:13:23 > 0:13:26'Outside, astronomers gather to enjoy the clear sky.
0:13:26 > 0:13:28'We may even have a glimpse
0:13:28 > 0:13:33'of our nearest galaxy, Andromeda or M31.'
0:13:33 > 0:13:36- Hello.- Hello.- Oh, it's a cold night, isn't it?
0:13:36 > 0:13:40- So what are you looking for?- Well, we're looking for M31, but...
0:13:40 > 0:13:42- Nothing like optimism!- Absolutely.
0:13:42 > 0:13:46Well, this is a substantial instrument. What size is it?
0:13:46 > 0:13:50- This is a six-inch refractor.- Can I have a look?- Yes.- Let's have a look.
0:13:50 > 0:13:52Are you sure?
0:13:52 > 0:13:55Yeah, I can just about make it out, actually.
0:13:58 > 0:14:00It's still there.
0:14:00 > 0:14:03- Hello!- Hello! - It's John, isn't it?- Yes.
0:14:03 > 0:14:06- Nice to see you. - Nice to see you. I have to say,
0:14:06 > 0:14:10- this does not look like a standard telescope!- No, this is one I made myself.- Really?- Yes.
0:14:10 > 0:14:13- That's phenomenal. - Over a period of about six months.
0:14:13 > 0:14:16This is the telescope that introduced me to Saturn, so...
0:14:16 > 0:14:18It's the first thing I saw through it.
0:14:18 > 0:14:21I've been wandering about the observatory site
0:14:21 > 0:14:24and look what I've found. The most enormous pair of binoculars.
0:14:24 > 0:14:27- They really are quite large, aren't they, Kevin?- Absolutely.
0:14:27 > 0:14:29Can I have a look? What have we got?
0:14:29 > 0:14:31We've got the double cluster in Perseus.
0:14:31 > 0:14:34Oh, and we have! Quite, quite beautiful.
0:14:34 > 0:14:38and I think one of the amazing things
0:14:38 > 0:14:40looking at an object like that through binoculars
0:14:40 > 0:14:42is this amazing wide view that you get.
0:14:42 > 0:14:45You do get an enormous field of view.
0:14:45 > 0:14:49Some great view of the moon, and the star clusters of the Milky Way.
0:14:49 > 0:14:51- Absolutely. - No observing site would be complete
0:14:51 > 0:14:55- without a pair of binoculars, Kevin. - Very special.- Very special.
0:15:00 > 0:15:02Well, we've got Jupiter in the sky.
0:15:02 > 0:15:05The telescope's trained onto it and by the magic of Pete Lawrence,
0:15:05 > 0:15:07it is now on the television screen.
0:15:07 > 0:15:11- That's quite an impressive image, isn't it?- Certainly is, certainly is.
0:15:11 > 0:15:14- Yes, live from the scene of Jupiter. - That's right.- Live pictures.
0:15:14 > 0:15:18There's lots of detail. There's those two main belts which are easily visible.
0:15:18 > 0:15:22- If we'd looked last year, one belt would have been missing.- The south equatorial belt had vanished
0:15:22 > 0:15:24but it's back with a vengeance.
0:15:24 > 0:15:25- It is.- It's a nice view.
0:15:25 > 0:15:29- Does that compare with the views you normally get up here?- Indeed.
0:15:29 > 0:15:33- We feel spoiled with how bright Jupiter is.- Yes, it's marvellous.
0:15:33 > 0:15:38I've been wondering very recently, Jupiter and the moon
0:15:38 > 0:15:41- always seem to have been close together.- For a few days now, yes.
0:15:41 > 0:15:45- Like they're working together. - Jupiter can stand the moonlight.
0:15:45 > 0:15:48You see that really bright dot next to the moon in the sky.
0:15:48 > 0:15:51It's really very impressive.
0:15:51 > 0:15:54Even with binoculars, you can see the wonderful moons.
0:15:54 > 0:15:55You can, yeah.
0:15:55 > 0:15:57- The little pinpricks of light. - Absolutely.
0:15:57 > 0:16:01Here's a little tip. With a pair of binoculars, it's sometimes difficult
0:16:01 > 0:16:05to hold them still, especially when cold, so you can see moons clearly.
0:16:05 > 0:16:09If you've got a broom, a nice, clean broom, you put it with the handle
0:16:09 > 0:16:12on the ground and you can rest the binoculars on the broom.
0:16:12 > 0:16:16- That is such a great tip.- That broom will be riddled with spiders
0:16:16 > 0:16:19and it will be absolutely appalling.
0:16:19 > 0:16:23- Thanks for coming. Great to have you.- Thanks for inviting us. - It's been fantastic.
0:16:23 > 0:16:27'Pete and I have had a great time at Hampstead.
0:16:27 > 0:16:28'It's free to the public
0:16:28 > 0:16:31'and well worth going to see the wonders of the night sky.
0:16:31 > 0:16:34'You can find your local observatory or society
0:16:34 > 0:16:36'by looking at our website.'
0:16:40 > 0:16:43Don't forget our Sky At Night Flickr site.
0:16:43 > 0:16:47If you take any images of Mars over the next month, post them up
0:16:47 > 0:16:50and we'll take a look.
0:16:50 > 0:16:53Well, telescopes tell us a great deal.
0:16:53 > 0:16:57But don't forget, Mars never comes much within 35 million miles of us,
0:16:57 > 0:17:00so we're bound to be limited. We need spacecraft,
0:17:00 > 0:17:03and unmanned probes being sent there.
0:17:03 > 0:17:06Some of these have crawled around the surface.
0:17:06 > 0:17:09But later on this month, a new probe, Curiosity,
0:17:09 > 0:17:13is going to blast off and land on Mars.
0:17:13 > 0:17:15It's a very complicated probe indeed.
0:17:15 > 0:17:18There was a gathering of planetary scientists.
0:17:18 > 0:17:21Sadly, I couldn't get there, but Chris Lintott could
0:17:21 > 0:17:24and he's been enquiring about the Curiosity rover.
0:17:24 > 0:17:28Nantes in France, a large trading port near the sea,
0:17:28 > 0:17:31with the River Loire running through it.
0:17:33 > 0:17:35It's a wonderful time for anyone
0:17:35 > 0:17:37who's interested in exploring our solar system.
0:17:37 > 0:17:40We've got probes around Mercury and Vesta.
0:17:40 > 0:17:42We've got missions all over Mars.
0:17:42 > 0:17:45Cassini's still at Saturn and there's even a probe,
0:17:45 > 0:17:47New Horizons, on the way to Pluto.
0:17:47 > 0:17:51And to discuss the flood of data that they're all sending back,
0:17:51 > 0:17:551,500 of the world's leading planetary scientists have come here to Nantes.
0:17:55 > 0:17:59It's the largest gathering of them since the days of Apollo.
0:17:59 > 0:18:04'The solar system is full of new and exciting stories,
0:18:04 > 0:18:09'but the reason I'm here is to find out what's happening on Mars.'
0:18:09 > 0:18:12The very first rover to land on Mars was this little thing.
0:18:12 > 0:18:15This is Sojourner, that landed in the mid-'90s.
0:18:15 > 0:18:17But things have moved on since then.
0:18:17 > 0:18:19We've got Spirit and Opportunity.
0:18:19 > 0:18:20Opportunity's still going strong,
0:18:20 > 0:18:23reaching Endeavour crater not so long ago.
0:18:23 > 0:18:25And then come over here. Look at this big beast.
0:18:25 > 0:18:28This is a full-scale replica of Curiosity,
0:18:28 > 0:18:30the next rover to land on Mars.
0:18:30 > 0:18:33It's going to change everything we know
0:18:33 > 0:18:35about science on the red planet.
0:18:35 > 0:18:37NASA's latest rover,
0:18:37 > 0:18:39originally called the Mars Science Laboratory,
0:18:39 > 0:18:41has been renamed Curiosity.
0:18:41 > 0:18:43And it is an impressive machine.
0:18:43 > 0:18:48Weighing in at almost a tonne, it has a nuclear generator on board,
0:18:48 > 0:18:50which keeps it warm, so it can work day and night,
0:18:50 > 0:18:54even throughout the cold Martian winter.
0:18:54 > 0:18:56I hope the science team can keep up with it.
0:18:56 > 0:19:00It's too big to bounce onto the surface in an airbag,
0:19:00 > 0:19:03and that means a spectacular landing, complete with rockets
0:19:03 > 0:19:08and a hovering platform. It's really scary stuff.
0:19:08 > 0:19:12Mars isn't an easy place, even for the most well-prepared explorer,
0:19:12 > 0:19:16and so the engineers have been testing Curiosity not only for that landing,
0:19:16 > 0:19:20but also for the extreme temperatures that it has to endure.
0:19:22 > 0:19:25Curiosity's essentially a roving geologist
0:19:25 > 0:19:27and a laboratory,
0:19:27 > 0:19:29and it's looking for evidence of conditions
0:19:29 > 0:19:31that could have supported life.
0:19:31 > 0:19:36ChemCam sits on top of the mast and has a telescope, a camera
0:19:36 > 0:19:40and a new addition, a laser, which will vaporise rocks from a distance.
0:19:40 > 0:19:45Sylvestre Maurice has spent ten years developing ChemCam
0:19:45 > 0:19:49and simply can't wait to get to Mars and start zapping rocks.
0:19:51 > 0:19:54How do you choose where on Mars to go?
0:19:54 > 0:19:56It's a big planet and you've only got one of these.
0:19:56 > 0:20:00- So, where are we going and why are we going there?- Where to go?
0:20:00 > 0:20:03We look at this wonderful planet, and say, where do I want to go?
0:20:03 > 0:20:09Engineers say, "Guys, this is too cold, don't even try, too cold, you don't try," so you stay here.
0:20:09 > 0:20:12There's a big mountain here called Olympus Mons -
0:20:12 > 0:20:16- here it is. They say, "Don't even try here, it's too high."- OK.
0:20:16 > 0:20:20This part here, Hellas, is too low and so the engineers
0:20:20 > 0:20:25- reduce the number of possible sites because they want somewhere where they can land.- OK.
0:20:25 > 0:20:29It needs to be flat, no wind, not too many rocks, not too high altitude,
0:20:29 > 0:20:32- not too cold, not too hot. - So where are we landing?
0:20:32 > 0:20:36Where are we landing on the planet? It's the crater called Gale.
0:20:36 > 0:20:38It's a big crater but what's interesting,
0:20:38 > 0:20:42you have a nice landing ellipse on the bottom.
0:20:42 > 0:20:45- How big's the crater?- About 50 kilometres. It's a big crater.
0:20:45 > 0:20:51- So the edge will be over the horizon? - Yes, but there's a peak. - Ah, OK.
0:20:51 > 0:20:56When you form a crater, a crater is formed by an impact coming from there and the impact smashes.
0:20:56 > 0:20:59So, this is an impact crater, not a volcanic one?
0:20:59 > 0:21:02It's an impact crater, expels a lot of things
0:21:02 > 0:21:05and there's always at the centre a rebound
0:21:05 > 0:21:09because of some pressure effect and that creates some sort of peak.
0:21:09 > 0:21:13- Like you see on the moon? - On the moon you see many of them.
0:21:13 > 0:21:18It's like climbing the Grand Canyon. As you climb on, you're going to see different histories.
0:21:18 > 0:21:22'Silvestre's laser will analyse its surroundings quickly so that Curiosity
0:21:22 > 0:21:26'doesn't have to waste its time on less interesting rocks.
0:21:26 > 0:21:31'It's on a mission to find evidence that Mars was once a very watery world.
0:21:31 > 0:21:36'The ChemCam team want to find really old rocks, billions of years old,
0:21:36 > 0:21:42'from Mars's ancient past, when water might well have been in abundance.'
0:21:42 > 0:21:45In the past ten years, we've completely changed our view of Mars.
0:21:45 > 0:21:49- We know that there was water there once. - We know there was water
0:21:49 > 0:21:53but let's be honest, we know that for the last three billion years nothing happened on Mars.
0:21:53 > 0:21:58- Sure.- Kind of a boring place. - There are people who'd argue the volcanoes are recent, though?
0:21:58 > 0:22:03Maybe, the volcanoes, Tarsis, and Olympus, and the axis doing that and that,
0:22:03 > 0:22:09climate, a lot of stuff happened, but these are small.
0:22:09 > 0:22:12- This is old terrain? - Yeah, and it's ceased happening.
0:22:12 > 0:22:19The real good stuff, we know now it happened between the origin of Mars, in 4.5...
0:22:19 > 0:22:25- Same as the Earth, roughly? - Yeah, about the same as the Earth. ..and 3.5, the first billion years.
0:22:25 > 0:22:29If you went back 3.5 billion years, Mars would look more like Earth than it does today.
0:22:29 > 0:22:34Yeah, and the big news we've got also from earth scientists is that we think that on Earth,
0:22:34 > 0:22:38during this first billion years, had water, atmosphere and life.
0:22:38 > 0:22:45We have another one that now we know but in its past has probably the condition
0:22:45 > 0:22:47exactly the same as Earth at the same time.
0:22:47 > 0:22:52Those Martian oceans are long gone along with the rest of the thick Martian atmosphere,
0:22:52 > 0:22:57lost thanks to Mars's weak gravitational pull.
0:22:57 > 0:23:01Some water still survives, particularly under the surface,
0:23:01 > 0:23:06but that, on its own, is not all that's needed to support life.
0:23:06 > 0:23:10It's a combination of physical condition, temperature,
0:23:10 > 0:23:14pressure, water, is the water liquid or not? And then...
0:23:14 > 0:23:19- And how long was it liquid for? - Exactly, and then do you have the elements to do that,
0:23:19 > 0:23:23- do you have the organics, you have carbon? We call them the CHNOPS. - OK.- You know the CHNOPS?
0:23:23 > 0:23:31- No.- Carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen and oxygen, phosphor and sulphur.
0:23:31 > 0:23:33- OK.- You get the CHNOPS, you get life.
0:23:33 > 0:23:39'Curiosity is trying to track down evidence of CHNOPS in the rocks.
0:23:39 > 0:23:42'If those elements were present in Mars's early history,
0:23:42 > 0:23:46'life may well have formed. But we want to know also
0:23:46 > 0:23:49'if the conditions that can support life are there today.
0:23:49 > 0:23:56'The polar caps freeze and melt with the seasons, but it's very, very cold.
0:23:56 > 0:24:00'This eye in the Martian sky is Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter
0:24:00 > 0:24:06'and it's picked up very subtle changes on steep slopes near the equator.
0:24:06 > 0:24:09'Candice Hansen works on its camera, HiRISE,
0:24:09 > 0:24:14'and believes what they're seeing is evidence of flowing, briny water.'
0:24:14 > 0:24:18So what we see are dark streaks that go down-slope.
0:24:18 > 0:24:20They are dark to begin with,
0:24:20 > 0:24:24which you would expect if they're fluid of some sort.
0:24:24 > 0:24:28- So darker because if you wet sand or something, it gets darker. - That's right.
0:24:28 > 0:24:35So what we think that we are seeing is liquid brine - very salty water.
0:24:35 > 0:24:39It's always in the summertime and in locations that have them,
0:24:39 > 0:24:40you'll see thousands of them.
0:24:40 > 0:24:47'So every Martian summer, salty water is unfreezing and creating mini-flows when it's warm.
0:24:47 > 0:24:52'Mars isn't a dead place but a living, breathing, changing world.
0:24:52 > 0:24:55'Seeing channels of water in the equatorial regions is
0:24:55 > 0:24:58'one of the most exciting discoveries on Mars so far
0:24:58 > 0:25:02'and the implications of flowing water are immense.'
0:25:02 > 0:25:06You know, here on Earth, if you find water,
0:25:06 > 0:25:08you find something swimming in it.
0:25:08 > 0:25:10'Methane is a hydrocarbon gas
0:25:10 > 0:25:13'that's very much associated with life here on Earth,
0:25:13 > 0:25:17'but which also breaks down in the atmosphere very quickly.
0:25:17 > 0:25:21'On Mars, we've found methane in the atmosphere and so something,
0:25:21 > 0:25:25'either volcanic activity of some sort or even life,
0:25:25 > 0:25:26'must be producing it.
0:25:26 > 0:25:29'Jonathan is an astrobiologist
0:25:29 > 0:25:33'who'd like to find some evidence of life on other worlds.'
0:25:33 > 0:25:37If you want to look for life today it's actually much more difficult,
0:25:37 > 0:25:40because most people think that life on Mars
0:25:40 > 0:25:43exists deep down in the crust if it exists at all,
0:25:43 > 0:25:46where the liquid water is persistent.
0:25:46 > 0:25:48Mars, billions of years ago,
0:25:48 > 0:25:51almost certainly had large amounts of liquid water.
0:25:51 > 0:25:53That was one of the great discoveries
0:25:53 > 0:25:55of the Spirit and Opportunity missions.
0:25:55 > 0:25:57But Mars today is dry
0:25:57 > 0:26:00and liquid water on the surface exists for short times.
0:26:00 > 0:26:04So, you would have to go down maybe kilometres through the crust
0:26:04 > 0:26:07to actually find that life.
0:26:07 > 0:26:09I'd say that's incredibly difficult.
0:26:09 > 0:26:12It is - we're not going to do it between now and the next DPS meeting.
0:26:12 > 0:26:16But, there's one caveat to this, which is that methane
0:26:16 > 0:26:20appears to be present in the atmosphere of Mars.
0:26:20 > 0:26:22Methane in the Martian atmosphere,
0:26:22 > 0:26:25very unstable, is chemically eaten up very quickly,
0:26:25 > 0:26:28so something is actively producing it.
0:26:28 > 0:26:30There are two possibilities.
0:26:30 > 0:26:32One is it's produced by geological processes.
0:26:32 > 0:26:35- Volcanoes.- That's one possibility.
0:26:35 > 0:26:38The other is that it has something to do with life.
0:26:38 > 0:26:39But in the case of Mars,
0:26:39 > 0:26:43what you could do is you could go find the sources of methane,
0:26:43 > 0:26:46you could look at what are called the isotopes of the carbon,
0:26:46 > 0:26:49and life favours the light carbon.
0:26:49 > 0:26:54There will be a difference in the ratio of the heavy to light carbon
0:26:54 > 0:26:58in the methane than in all the other sources of carbon on Mars,
0:26:58 > 0:27:00for example, carbon dioxide.
0:27:00 > 0:27:02If there's a strong signature of that,
0:27:02 > 0:27:06that would be a very good indication that biology was somehow involved.
0:27:06 > 0:27:10'Thanks to the fleet of spacecraft now exploring Mars,
0:27:10 > 0:27:14'we're getting an excellent understanding of the planet's chemistry,
0:27:14 > 0:27:17'both in the atmosphere and on the ground.
0:27:17 > 0:27:21'Curiosity's SAM instrument is a mobile chemistry lab
0:27:21 > 0:27:25'capable of analysing soil collected by the rover's robotic arm.
0:27:25 > 0:27:30'The previous landers, Viking and Phoenix, both analyse soil samples,
0:27:30 > 0:27:33'but the results have been difficult to interpret,
0:27:33 > 0:27:38'reminding us that Mars is an alien world which we barely understand.
0:27:38 > 0:27:41'The steady flow of discoveries about Mars
0:27:41 > 0:27:43'expands our knowledge of the red planet.
0:27:43 > 0:27:48'Each successive mission takes us further in our quest to find out
0:27:48 > 0:27:52'whether life has existed on Mars and whether it's still there today.'
0:27:54 > 0:27:57Next month, we're going to visit the Alpha solar system.
0:27:57 > 0:28:00We've also got something rather special for you -
0:28:00 > 0:28:06we've found a lost Sky At Night programme going back to 1963,
0:28:06 > 0:28:11which is a rather young me talking to someone whom we remember,
0:28:11 > 0:28:13known as Arthur C Clarke.
0:28:13 > 0:28:15I think you'll enjoy this!
0:28:15 > 0:28:18Now, I'm talking about moon bases tonight for two reasons.
0:28:18 > 0:28:20First, because they are very topical
0:28:20 > 0:28:23and we've just shown you one new design study.
0:28:23 > 0:28:27But secondly, because I'm delighted to have with me my old friend
0:28:27 > 0:28:29Arthur Clarke.
0:28:29 > 0:28:32Arthur, you, of course, were forecasting developments
0:28:32 > 0:28:34of this kind more than 20 years ago.
0:28:34 > 0:28:35Thank you, Pat.
0:28:35 > 0:28:38Until then, good night.
0:28:52 > 0:28:56Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd
0:28:56 > 0:28:59E-mail subtitling@bbc.co.uk