mars at the moment ?

[rory]

got up early to view mars. after blowing my dark adapted eyes by opening the FRIDGE!!!

at x100 through my 90mm it still looked not much more than a star. is that the case? kept checking position with stellarium,but was unsure due to no disc could really be made out .

red/orange in colour,easy seen naked eye.

that seem right ?

[Ben Ritchie]

It's very small at the moment, only 5 arcseconds across - best time will be January-March when it's near closest approach and will appear more than twice the size.

[rory]

ok, i thought it was mars from the redish appearance, but was a little unsure due to its size. thanks.

[ronin]

Even if it is a small object and a long way off at 100x I would have thought that you would make out a disc of some sort, even if it were a small blurry disc.

Everything else is right. But even in 20x binoculars you can make out that it is a disc (small but round not point).

Best wait until March, think that is when it is closest.