Gibbous Mars?

[Bennythebrit]

Got in from work this morning around 630. Could see a small red star riding high in the southern sky. Confirmed it as Mars with Stellarium , nice red disc through the binos and the spotter., but a slight cresent / gibbous look about it????

[michael.h.f.wilkinson]

Mars can show a slight gibbous look around quadrature, but usually that is only visible at high magnification (150-200x or so). Glare from the bright object can sometimes give the impression of a gibbous look or even crescent, especially off-axis.

[Bennythebrit]

I see, thank you for that

[lukebl]

Mars is distinctly gibbous right now, although it is pretty small, just 6.2" across.

Here's a screen grab from Sky Safari Pro. sadly, not my pic!

[michael.h.f.wilkinson]

Mars is distinctly gibbous right now, although it is pretty small, just 6.2" across.

Here's a screen grab from Sky Safari Pro. sadly, not my pic!

And there I was thinking you had hacked the Hubble

[michael.h.f.wilkinson]

Just thinking about that. Given a 6.2" disc, at 15x in bins you could just resolve it at 1.55' (human eye is often rated at about one minute of arc resolution). At 60x the gibbous shape could b seen. Thus, a spotting scope should be able to crack it. I haven't myself managed it at that magnification, but I might give it a try (should the clouds finally part)