Oct 22 - Did the Viking Landers Find Life on Mars in 1976?

October 22 Did the Viking Landers Find Life on Mars in 1976? by:

Water frost on Mars rocks and soil near the Viking 2 lander, May 18, 1979. Image via NASA/JPL/Ted Stryk/The Planetary Society.

Did the Viking landers find life on Mars in 1976? For a brief time in 1976, it seemed as if NASA's Viking landers had found microbes on Mars. Those results have been vigorously disputed in the years since, but the original experiment's principal investigator, Gilbert Levin, still maintains they really did detect Martian microbes. Read more. Tonight … Close-up on Cassiopeia the Queen It's an easy constellation to identify because it has the shape of an M or W.  On these October evenings, look for Cassiopeia the Queen high in the northeast sky, not far from the North Star. Read more. Found Cassiopeia? Now look for Perseus Perseus follows Cassiopeia across the night sky. It's fainter, but has a graceful shape and some of the sky's most interesting stars and star clusters. It also has the sky's scariest star and a gruesome association in skylore. Read more.

EarthSky lunar calendars are back in stock We're guaranteed to sell out, get one while you can! Your support means the world to us and allows us to keep going. Purchase here.

See moon, Leo, and Mars before daybreak These next several mornings, you can use the lit side of the waning crescent moon to envision the ecliptic and possibly to locate the planet Mars, which is just now returning to the east before sunrise. The waning crescent points to Mars on October 23, 24 and 25. On October 26, look for the moon to swing close to Mars on the sky's dome. Read more. Want a view specific to your location? Try Stellarium.

Earth's shadow, Belt of Venus, over a jungle in Iran View at EarthSky Community Photos. | Most people picture Iran as mountains and deserts, but there are great forested regions, too, known as jungles. Mohsen Salehi captured this image on October 17 in the Alimestan jungle in Iran's Chelav Rural District. Known for its scenery and nicknamed 'Iran Green Gold,' the area attracts nature photographers. Mohsen wrote: "Earth's shadow and Belt of Venus over an ocean of cloud." Thank you, Mohsen! Submit your photo to EarthSky here! Did a friend forward EarthSkyNews to you? Click here to get your own subscription!

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