飞掠火星后的第二天

2019 November 1

The Day After Mars
Image Credit & Copyright: Rolando Ligustri (CARA Project, CAST)

Explanation: October 31, 1938 was the day after Martians encountered planet Earth, and everything was calm. Reports of the invasion were revealed to be part of a Halloween radio drama, the now famous broadcast based on H.G. Wells’ scifi novel War of the Worlds. On Mars October 20, 2014 was calm too, the day after its close encounter with Comet Siding Spring (C/2013 A1). Not a hoax, this comet really did come within 86,700 miles or so of Mars, about 1/3 the Earth-Moon distance. Earth’s spacecraft and rovers in Mars orbit and on the surface reported no ill effects though, and had a ringside seat as a visitor from the outer solar system passed by. Spanning over 2 degrees against stars of the constellation Ophiuchus, this colorful telescopic snapshot captures our view of Mars on the day after. Bluish star 51 Ophiuchi is at the upper right and the comet is just emerging from the Red Planet’s bright glare.

飞掠火星后的第二天
影像来源与版权：Rolando Ligustri (CARA Project, CAST)

说明：1938年10月31日是火星人入侵地球的第二天，但一切都很平静。这篇入侵报道是万圣节广播剧的部分内容，这部剧是威尔斯著作的科幻小说《世界大战》所改编的著名广播节目。2014年10月20日，在火星近距离飞掠赛丁泉彗星（C/2013 A1）的第二天，一切也很平静。然而，这并不是恶作剧，这颗彗星的确以86,700公里左右，约1/3地月距离的间距飞掠火星。尽管火星轨道上的宇宙飞船和火星表面的探测车在外太阳系访客近距离通过火星时，没有监测到任何不良效应。这幅覆盖蛇夫座方向超过2度天区的彩色望远镜影像呈现了彗星飞掠火星后第二天的景象。蓝色恒星蛇夫座51星位于影像的右上方，那颗彗星则刚从火星的明亮辉光中飞出。