Astronomy talks - Is there life on Mars?
Tuesday 9th December 2025 from 19:00pm to 20:00pm
Princess Alexandra Auditorium
Yarm School, Middlesbrough, Cleveland, TS15 9EJ
Join Go Stargazing astronomer Dr Fred Stevenson for this one of a series of fascinating lectures in the Friarage Theatre at the Princess Alexandria Auditorium.
Mars – ‘fourth rock from the Sun’ is one of the most intriguing of the planets in our solar system – not to mention one of the closest possible abodes for life ‘out there’.
Ever since early astronomers thought that they had seen ‘canals’ on Mars, theories pertaining to life on the planet have persisted. Even though we now know that there is no planet-wide Martian civilisation, we cling on to the idea that there may be some form of life on (or within) ‘the red planet’.
We will look at Mars as revealed by recent space probes and in particular the rover vehicles, Curiosity and Perseverance, which show us detailed images of the surface of Mars – the like of which have never been seen before.
Event booking
Event darkness
The below chart shows if and when the skies will be at their darkest during this event. Moonlight is shown in light yellow and the Sun's twilight in light blue. Midnight on the date shown is shown as a white line with sunset to the left and sunrise the next morning to the right. A black background with stars shows the best times for stargazing.
Tue 9th Dec
Local light pollution
Princess Alexandra Auditorium is estimated to have light pollution levels similar to an urban location based on the latest data from the VIIRS satellite.
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Dark site
The above demonstrates the estimated effect of light pollution - graphics created using Stellarium.
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