Analysis Paralysis

9 hours ago, Mand1 said:

Mars has appeared as a white disc to me  as well all week. It’s just too bright.

it is recommended to try various filters. I’ve got a variable polarising one on the way to try. 
My max  useable magnification has been around 150x.

So, I wonder if it will appear redder as it shrinks? 

18 minutes ago, callisto said:

Yeah, very true.....was just wondering what your Eyepiece view was like

Nice sharp image. Nice to just see how big it looks, at close approach. Interestingly, I had a 60 mm spotting scope which showed two bands on jupiter at 30x mag, so can't wait to see it in my 80 mm ed! 

6 minutes ago, RobertI said:

I have to confess, I find the pink colour very slight through my 100ED, and once observing I don't notice it all and it just seems almost white! Through my Tal100R achromat it does have a distinct deep pink colour though.

So, if I have trouble with pale pink, it might appear white to me. I suspect if I looked through a 8 inch or bigger, the extra light gathering might override my handicap? 

10 minutes ago, globular said:

Do you have a filter somewhere in the light path?  Screwed into the diagonal and forgotten about maybe?

No. Also two different lenses showed same colour. A 10mm ortho, and a 8-24mm baader zoom. 

9 minutes ago, John said:

This is a reasonably accurate representation of Mars as it appears at around 300x magnification through a moderate size scope:

Hi John

And that is exactly what I hoped to see! 😏. My magnification maxed out at 150 but I'd have expected some colour visually, with both scopes. The pale band I saw did match with sky safari pro. It was when syrtis major wasn't visible on 10th October. 

Just now, Analysis Paralysis said:

Hi. I tried to do that but no luck. But, I could stick a dslr on when we have a clear night? Sky safari pro certainly supports its position. Of course, any imaging could mislead any conclusions on colour, as it could concentrate the colour giving it a redder colour. 

7 minutes ago, callisto said:

Very strange 

Can you take an image through the eyepiece with a phone?

 

Mark

Hi. I tried to do that but no luck. But, I could stick a dslr on when we have a clear night? Sky safari pro certainly supports its position. Of course, any imaging could mislead any conclusions on colour, as it could concentrate the colour giving it a redder colour. 

11 minutes ago, callisto said:

I think you've just viewed Jupiter

Hi Callisto

Thank you for your reply. See my response to John. Definitely not jupiter. I'm familiar with viewing that planet.😉 It may be my eyes. 

1 minute ago, John said:

Mars is a distinct pink colour with darker patches on the southern hemisphere. If the seeing conditions are poor it still appears distinctly pink.

What you describe does sound more like Jupiter which does have bands across the central part of a white / cream disk.

 

Hi John, 

Definitely not jupiter. Location was correct for mars. I've seen jupiter and this was definitely not that planet. On all occasions also, there were no moons, which would immediately alert me. I do have issues with seeing  very pale pink colour, so that might be contributing to my problem. So, it definitely wouldn't look red then? 

Mark

Hi. I looked at Mars for first time in my life recently. I expected to see a red disc. Instead it looked white with a faint dark band. Anyone else experiencing white rather than a red colour? My wife also confirmed similar view, so it's not my eyes that are the problem. 

Thank you. 

Mark