Mars - surface detail at last!

[dayglowill]

Tonight I viewed Mars through the ST80 at 40x and got a tantalising hint of surface detail. So I decided to go in and fetch the 90mm Mak and try for a closer look. After the scope had cooled down I was pleased to see that at 120x I could make out surface detail, albeit only for brief moments when the seeing improved. After scuttling back indoors it was gratifying to discover that the features I had seen did tally with the face of Mars visible at the moment according to Stellarium.

All the best,

Will.

[themos]

You inspired me to have a look through the (f=1500mm) Dob (2.5x@12mm=312x). And yes, a definite V-shaped greenish darkening of the light orangey disk.

[cygnusx1]

That's nice, i don't seem to get any detail except a small white focussed ball :insects1: with my C9.25 or 66mm APO.

Do i need some sort of filter to bring out the surface detail?

[saturn5]

I know a few people have been posting saying they were having difficulty in seeing any surface detail on Mars and i have to agree with them but last night(sunday) i was looking at Mars with a light yellow filter (which i also find best for Saturn and Jupiter) and for the first time since the planet has been "close" i managed to get excellant detail,i have tried various coloured filters but i find the pale yellow best for me,nice to hear from someone else who has noticed on improvement in the surface detail of mars,i did ask the question in another thread but nobody bothered replying.

[thing]

Which filter number is it exactly? I get good views of Mars up to x400 in my scope but very little detail, I don't know if it's bad seeing or not as I'm very new to this game but would be willing to buy a filter if that's what's needed.

[saturn5]

No8 for the light yellow,i also use No12 yellow as well ,i find them excellant for enhancing surface detail but have read that others find orange and red better,i think it boils down to personal choice but the shades of yellow work for me,i do have No15 deep yellow but i find it too YELLOW!!!!!!!! far to much colour for my liking anyway.

[thing]

Thanks for that.

[Paul G. Abel]

I find that I can see plenty of details with the eye alone. I use my 8" reflector, which I have recently aquired a drive for- that makes things even better!

[Azelfafage]

I've joined the "seen something on Mars" club - a hint of detail at x250 on Friday before the clouds rolled over :x

A

[Talitha]

Mars is difficult at best (one reason why I prefer the Moon ), but the filters which always worked for me were an orange one for the maria, and the light blue one for brighter clouds and the ice-cap borders.

Funny as it may sound, the absolute best view I ever had of Mars was when the fog was so thick the planet couldn't be detected naked-eye.. thank heaven the LX-10 was already tracking it before the fogbank rolled up the hill.