Red Planet With a Touch of Blue

It’s an election week for many places in the country, and that means a return to those belabored favorite terms of the punditocracy: Red States and Blue States.

Well, this week the planet Mars offers a chance to see the Red/Blue divide on a planetary scale, accomplished with the complete absence of politicians.

Our friends at SpaceWeather.com have an interesting item about Mars, which is lining up for a close fly-by of Earth in January, known to astrology fans as Mars retrograde in Leo. This is giving backyard astronomers with adequate telescopes a chance to see what appears to be the Red Planet blushing blue, as illustrated by a photo taken by Joel Warren of Amarillo, Texas.

What you see in the photo is the northern polar ice cap on Mars, visible as a blue swatch atop the ruddy planet. There’s water ice in there, although it’s often under a layer of carbon dioxide frost (i.e., dry ice).

You know, it occurs that there may be an astronomical solution to the generally intolerable lack of civility in politics. After all, we have a Red Planet and a Blue Planet. Could it be as simple as Red Staters getting a vacation on Mars and leaving the Blue Staters on Earth? Or maybe vice versa, to allow each to experience a home world of the opposite chromatic character?

Or maybe the politicians need a trip to Mars, before they finish trashing the Earth.