Spacesuit stargazing
The practicalities of amateur astronomy on the Red Planet
Future amateur astronomers on Mars will have to be tough and resilient. They might not have to cope with the frustration of cloudy nights like their terrestrial counterparts but they will have other, greater, challenges. For a start, they will have to see and do everything cocooned inside a spacesuit protecting them from the inhospitable Martian environment. Night-time temperatures can drop to -90C, so fingerless gloves and a woolly hat are not going to be warm enough. So even before going outside to stargaze they will have to spend hours suiting up and then cycling through an airlock.
Once outside, the real challenges will begin. Sadly, there will be no escape from light pollution, even on Mars. Stargazers will have to get away from light produced by the base, but not so far away that their safety is put at risk. Once their vision is dark-adapted they will have to view the starry sky through their helmet visors, which might distort the stars or affect their colours. Using binoculars or telescopes will be difficult for the same reason, although it is possible they might be able to use some sort of visor attachment to let them look through the eyepieces of such observing equipment.
As for astrophotography, the DSLR they used back on Earth won’t cut it on Mars. These cameras aren’t designed to be used in such a dusty and lethally cold environment, and would probably die within a few minutes of being put on their tripod. But a camera specially designed to be used on Mars would take fantastic images of the stars, planets and Milky Way shining above the planet’s jagged mountains, meandering canyons and towering volcanoes. Perhaps the winning image of the Astronomy Photographer of the Year 2061 competition will be a twilight photo of Halley’s Comet shining below Earth, high above the dust-covered Opportunity rover.