Mars 09-03-14

[John]

I had my first views of Mars this opposition in the early hours of this morning.

I was using my ED120 and found 225x and 257x provided the crispest and most contrasty views of it's 12 arc second disk. 

The northern pole cap was clearly defined as were the dark masses of the Mare Acidalium to the NE and Syrtis Major to the SW. Other dark features were visible in the southern latitudes of the disk but less clearly defined.

It was nice to see the red planet again but it was also a reminder of how challenging picking out features on it's little disk can be with the low altitude adding the hurdles of some atmospheric diffraction and contrast extinction.

I may try and get the 12" dob on it tonight   

[RickS25]

Hi

Did you use any filters? I was awake at 4 am this morning so thought I would have a first look at Mars with my new 10" dob. Only problem was the brightness of the planet. I could make out the dark areas but it was just too bright. I tried putting my light pollution filter plus my ( not very good) moon filter on but still it seemed too bright. I was hoping to make out a polar cap but no chance!

Rick

[John]

Hi

Did you use any filters? I was awake at 4 am this morning so thought I would have a first look at Mars with my new 10" dob. Only problem was the brightness of the planet. I could make out the dark areas but it was just too bright. I tried putting my light pollution filter plus my ( not very good) moon filter on but still it seemed too bright. I was hoping to make out a polar cap but no chance!

Rick

No, I don't use filters on the planets or the Moon. My eye soon adjusts to the brightness and then the lower contrast features start to show themselves.

I use excellent quality eyepieces which reduce flare and light scatter to a minimum though.

It's a challenging target whichever way you look at it.

[StarSapling]

I have yet to observe Mars on this opposition, but your post has inspired me to try and get out tonight. Thanks

[RickS25]

No, I don't use filters on the planets or the Moon. My eye soon adjusts to the brightness and then the lower contrast features start to show themselves.

I use excellent quality eyepieces which reduce flare and light scatter to a minimum though.

It's a challenging target whichever way you look at it.

By the sound of it I was just too impatient! I have a couple of good eyepieces so I will be more patient next time and try and let the features come out.

Many thanks

Rick

[Special K]

Nice report, John. Surely the view in the super Dob 12" will be amazing!

No 21 Orange worked well for me but was only a brief look.

[StarSapling]

Inspired by your post, I took my 90mm f10 refractor for a first look at Mars this opposition.  The seeing was poor and I couldn't really use a magnification greater than 101x, which resulted in what first appeared to be a very small, slightly gibbious disk showing no detail at all.  After observing for a while, some detail was revealed in flashes of good seeing.  I was able to see the north polar cap, possibly the south polar hood, portions of Mare Acidalium and some very subtle mottling in the central portion of the disk.

[Marki]

I went out last night (12/3/14) at about 11.45pm with my 4" f13 refractor, when Mars was beginning to clear the trees in my neighbour's garden. The air had been really dirty and milky earlier in the evening, but seemed to have cleared up a bit - seeing wasn't exactly good though. Depsite this, and although still low, I had the best views of Mars since I started in this hobby. 

The disc was very small, but even on an initial view I could see differentiation in colour on the surface. After a few minutes, I was able to clearly make out the white cap of the northern polar cap, and a lighter area opposite at the south. There was a relatively clear darker area in what was almost a thick irregular "Y" shape (it seemed offset to the north and west as I looked at the disc). I tried a range of magnifications and eps, but found that my views were consistently better at around x162 with my hyperian zoom at 8mm. Anything lower and the disc was too small and anything much higher, then the image was getting mushy and losing detail for me. 

I had looked at Mars with my 6" f10 refractor on Monday (10/3/14) in what seemed better seeing and around the same time of night, but was unable to make out the same level of detail as last night. Not sure why though. I suspect it is as much that I am learning to see the detail better, or maybe localised conditions were different, but maybe the 4" f13 cuts through the murky air better than the 6" f10 (I've had that impression now on a couple of nights of "iffy" seeing).

I'm very much looking forward to Mars getting a bit higher earlier, and much larger too, over the next few weeks. It seems that it will really reward longer periods at the ep, despite being less dramatic than Saturn and not so dynamic as Jupiter. Anyway, I was really pleased to have made a good start on teasing detail from the Red Planet, and went to bed with a great sense of elation. I'm very much looking forward to Mars getting a bit higher earlier, and much larger too, over the next few weeks.

[John]

Nice report Mark 

It would be great if Mars were higher in the sky but we will just have to wait a few years for that sort of opposition.

[chiltonstar]

I had an hour last night with the eyeball (x 190 and x250) and later the webcam - it's nice to see that detail is appearing (ice-caps both ends, Syrtis Major plus detail at the other pole). The webcam image showed about the same amount of detail as the eye, as the seeing was "wavy" with bands of air moving across. Roll on a good apparition.

Chris

[John]

I popped the scope out for a peek at Mars in the early hours this morning but the seeing was rather unsteady. I got a nicely defined planetary disk at 265x with my 12" dob but the visibility of the detail on it seemed very variable. There was quite a bit of high level cloud blowing around though. Last opposition I had a few occasions with really steady seeing and saw exquisite detail despite the small disk size. I've not had such an experience, as yet, this time around.