Discover Mars. When looking to the southeast after dark, Mars is unmistakable. I’ve never seen it loom so large or shine so brightly, if a reddish glow qualifies as “bright.”

The red color of Mars’ surface derives from the same chemistry that rusts old hoes and rakes on earth. It is estimated that iron oxide, or “rust,” composes up to 10 percent of the Martian soil. Our own red rocks of the Upper Delaware region, which bear Mars a close kinship, are “johnny-come-latelys”—having been oxidized 370 million years ago, several billion years later than the surface of Mars.

Carbon dioxide gas, which exists in trace amounts in Earth’s atmosphere, at 0.03 percent, composes 95 percent of the Martian air. Thankfully for astronauts who may land there, Mars’ present atmosphere is 150 times thinner than earth’s, which means visitors won’t be boiled alive.

Mars also hosts a gigantic mountain, Olympus Mons, which has a diameter of 375 miles and projects 15 miles above the surrounding plain. It’s easily the most spectacular volcanic formation in the solar system, equal in volume to the total amount of lava expelled by the entire Hawaiian Island chain. In addition, extensive beds of hardened, flat-lying lava, such as ones that blanket eastern Washington State, are found in both Martian hemispheres.

A gigantic rift valley, the Valles Marineris contains a canyon system 2,486 miles long and up to four miles deep.

Will any of these features, or Mars’ polar ice caps, be resolved by the telescopes of local skywatchers? Find out by joining astronomers Al Schultheis and Norm Sullivan at the Butterfly Barn in Milanville on Friday, August 29 at 9:00 p.m. A rain date is set for August 30.

For more information call 570/226-3164 or 570/729-7053 after business hours.