Amateur astronomers protect the planet this week on planetary radio. Radio.

Hi everyone, I'm Matt Kaplan with Public Radio's travel show that takes you to the solar system and beyond.

Nowhere else in science are talented dedicated amateurs so appreciated as in astronomy.

We'll meet two of them, both active in the search for near-Earth objects,

those big rocks that cross the path of our

vulnerable planet. Later Bruce Betts will drop by with his what's up report on the

sky and a new space trivia contest. We'll start with a quick look at some of what's going on in our corner of the Milky Way.

Did someone mention near-Earth objects?

Depending on when you hear this, a two-mile rock named Tutatas will either have just missed our home

planet or is about to miss us.

Luckily, Tutatas passes safely about a million miles from Earth, on September 29.

Mars has emerged from spending 12 days behind the sun.

Scientists were pretty much out of touch with spirit and opportunity during that time.

Both Mars Exploration Rovers have now phoned home, letting mom and dad know they are healthy

and ready to continue their explorations.

Meanwhile, high above the Red Planet, Mars Express has just returned some very intriguing

data. The European Orbiter found overlapping concentrations of water vapor and methane in the Martian

atmosphere. Scientists caution that we aren't even close to knowing why, so don't go

jumping to any conclusions about microbial life.

You can learn more about these and other stories on the web at planetary.org.

I'll be back with the first of our amateur Neo hunters right after this Q&A from

Emily about the not so dark side of the moon.

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