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Mars at last

welshrob87

By welshrob87
in The Astro Lounge

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welshrob87

welshrob87

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Just had my first successful viewing of Mars, with previous attempts only giving me an orange blob. Started off with 15mm eyepiece in my 200P dob to give 80x but it was just an orange blob.

Decided to keep increasing the power to see if any details come into view. Went through 10mm (120x), and a 2x barlowed 15mm (160x) but no details appeared until I used the 6mm (200x), but only for a couple of seconds at a time. It was more frequent using the 10mm barlowed eyepiece (240x). Thought I could make out dark bands around the poles.

Out of curiosity I decided to try and barlow the 6mm eyepiece but didn't have much hope as it would give 400x magnification.

WOW! I was wrong. As Mars drifted (quickly) through the view I could clearly see the ice cap with a dark band around it, extending down one side. Another dark band round the other pole extending up the the edge nearly to meet the first dark region.

I've made a quick sketch of what I saw. Is there a site that shows the current view of Mars? Does stellarium show it? Want to see if I really was seeing features of Mars or if my eyes and mind are playing tricks on me with the desperation of seeing Mars in some detail.

post-32637-13387774259_thumb.jpg

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franco

franco

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Out of curiosity I decided to try and barlow the 6mm eyepiece but didn't have much hope as it would give 400x magnification.

Am i right in thinking that a barlow just doubles the size of the image and not increase the magnification? i havnt used one yet so not entirely sure.

also nice report, i think you have just persuaded me to get a 6mm EP, which one do you have? i have a 200p Skywatcher too. but only with the original EP's

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John

John

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Am i right in thinking that a barlow just doubles the size of the image and not increase the magnification? i havnt used one yet so not entirely sure. ...

To make the image larger you have to have more magnification and a barlow does this by increasing the effective focal length of the scope by 2x, 3x etc. A given eyepiece will then deliver that much more magnification. Careful not to overdo it though - 250x is about as much as our seeing conditions usefully allow.

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welshrob87

welshrob87

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Thats how it looked to me tonight to. There is an applet linked to from this web page that shows what's on view at a particular time:

Mars: Which Side Is Visible? - Planets - SkyandTelescope.com

Thanks, I had just seen that applet but makes more sense opening it from that page though, when I originally opened it the image of Mars was split and wasn't sure which is the visible part.

Am i right in thinking that a barlow just doubles the size of the image and not increase the magnification? i havnt used one yet so not entirely sure.

also nice report, i think you have just persuaded me to get a 6mm EP, which one do you have? i have a 200p Skywatcher too. but only with the original EP's

The way I thought it was that a 2x Barlow effectively halves the focal length of the eyepiece which has the same effect as doubling the magnification.

The 6mm eyepiece I have is this one from sky's the limit:

1.25" 6mm 58 Degree TMB Planetary II eyepiece | eBay

Was also using a Neodymium filter, dunno how much effect that had though.

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Duns

Duns

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I had another go at Mars last night - and again the problem I have is convincing myself that I am not deluding myself when I think I see the polar caps. I'm viewing Mars at 200x and last night i gave it at least 30 minutes continual attention. I think I saw them but I can't be sure :)

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faulksy

faulksy

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Here's a (tiny) pic which I took about half an hour ago...

thats roughly how i viewed it sunday night but the planet has rotated since,last night i could only just make out the dark regions and polar caps but it was in the same position as your image. lovely by the way

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welshrob87

welshrob87

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I had another go at Mars last night - and again the problem I have is convincing myself that I am not deluding myself when I think I see the polar caps. I'm viewing Mars at 200x and last night i gave it at least 30 minutes continual attention. I think I saw them but I can't be sure :D

I know what you mean. I wasn't 100% sure I was seeing anything even when I was. Surprised at how accurate my sketch was compared to what stellarium showed for about the same time I was viewing.

post-32637-133877742939_thumb.jpg

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