Evening Sky Show
When the sun ges down tonight, step outside and look southwest. Mars, Antares and the crescent Moon have lined up to form a near-vertical column of heavenly bodies just above the horizon. Last night, Alan Dyer photographed the trio converging over Cluny, Alberta, Canada:
"It was a beautiful crisp autumn evening for watching the twilight show of the waxing Moon and the pairing of Mars and his rival red star, Antares," says Dyer. " I shot this image as part of a time-lapse sequence overlooking the Bow River in southern Alberta."
As the twilight sky fades to black, pay special attention to the visual appearance of Mars and Antares. They are nearly identical. In Greek, "Antares" means "rival of Mars" or "anti-Mars," so-named because it is about the same brightness and color as the Red Planet. Seeing the two side-by-side as their ruddy light beams through the darkening cobalt sky is a rare pleasure.
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