Atmosphere and detail

[barkis]

Successful planetary observations are very much dependent on the cooperation of the earths atmosphere. Of course this post is for those who are fairly new to the experience, and may be very disappointed at the lack of anything but a small blank disc. You may have to wait a long time for that eureka moment, and it might not happen at all in one observing night. Most modern telescopes, reflectors, and refractors of modest size, are capable of resolving detail on mars, particularly at this time in its relationship to earth.

your success will depend greatly on how earths atmosphere is behaving, and how quiet the air is. A good indicator can be how stars are behaving, particularly those at about the same declination as the planet. If they are twinkling wildly, then the chances are fairly grim.

Usually a good time is a night with a light fog or mist, strange as that might seem. It does indicate that at least the lower atmosphere is steady.

Patience is your ally too. Don't expect to see anything immediately. The best moments can appear at any time, and you must be prepared to wait until they happen. There may be a time when you get prolonged excellent seeing conditions, then of course it's like being your birthday.

Build up a range of filters for yourself, to take advantage of the seeing when it is good, the filters will enhance certain features well.

For those who wonder at the superb images of mars, and why it can't be seen that way in the eyepiece, the answer is simple, the human eye cannot stack the images, whereas software can, and in doing so increases the detail in depth. If only we had a camera in our brain, and our eye was the lens and the scope an image amplifier. How good would that be.?

Anyone viewing from their garden, may have to observe over the tops of houses that are very warm inside, with central heating turned full up in this very cold spell. Unfortunately, a lot of that heat can leak out via the roof . Not a heavy loss, but sufficient to disturb the light rays coming down into your telescope. The difference between you seeing faint detail or not, could well be dictated to by that warm roof you are observing over the top of.

Clear and steady skies, and good observing.

Ron.

[John]

That's a very timely and useful post Ron, thanks

I have found with observing planets that you have to grab the moments of clear seeing as and when you can - they often only last a couple of seconds or so.

I have also found that the more often that I observe a particular planet, the better my eye gradually gets at resolving the finer details - it's almost as if your eye becomes "trained" over time.

It does take some time to develop these skills - I can quite understand how a newcomer to the hobby, even if armed with a good and capable scope, could be a bit underwhelmed by his / her initial experiences.

John

[Jamie]

Nice one Ron.

Thats just what a beginner needs to know about planetary viewing IMHO...

In addition to what Ron has said. Mars is best viewed through a blue filter to bring out some more detail if memory serves me correctly.

[Sam]

Ron,

Thanks for that information, as a beginner, I have found this sort of advice extremely useful in improving my observing results. I haven't been underwhelmed by what I have seen because it's been a case a seeing things I have never seen before. I was really happy the first time I saw the disk of Mars. Then even happier when I first saw a shadow on that disk. The "real icing on the cake" was catching a glimpse of the ice cap. Expectation management is the key I think - that's where this forum is so great as many different people give outstanding descriptions of what they see and advice on how to improve.

cheers

Sam

[philsail1]

Wise words Ron!

It is so easy to look through the curtains, catch a glimpse of Mars and rush out with your telescope expecting to see wonderful things - and then be bitterly dissapointed.

At least you are "tempering" our "wild" enthusiastic expectations!

Regards,

philsail1

[Astroman]

Excellent post, Ron.

John, "training" the eye is exactly what you do as you observe and gain experience. A "quick look" is never sufficient. It pays to take your time and really look.

Which leads me to Jamie's comment about colored filters. You really must become familiar with an object without filters to notice the differences brought out with a filter. Once familiar with the subtle contrasts of Mars for instance, adding a red, blue, green, orange or yellow filter brings out different aspects, suppressing some while enhancing others. You must know what's there before you can tell what's changed. 8)