Moon, Mars, Saturn under very steady sky

[Piero]

Just landed this afternoon. No sign of wind but high clouds spread in the sky and mostly on the horizon. In the first part of the evening these clouds were just that amount of density to prevent any observation of the Moon. A bit later, possibly due to the drop in temperature (during the day here is 22-24C which might be the reason for the formation of humidity "patches/clouds" in the sky), some area in the sky were accessible. Very few stars were visible. I could see Vega, Arcturus and very few others due to the Moon glare and the high clouds. Overall, an evening characterized by a perfect seeing and bad transparency. Still very happy though as they forecast rain from tomorrow to Sunday, so this might be my only observation in Italy for this month.

Having sufficient magnification options, I was curious to push as much as I could and see how much a seeing like this can support. Briefly, the answer is a lot. It's essentially the opposite of the UK: no wind, just flat steady air lasting for days. The downside is that this area can have high levels of humidity (and fog in autumn/winter) which can seriously affect transparency. Anyway, for transparency and darkness, one can just head to the mountains at North. I believe that observing planets in this area with a bigger aperture could be really shocking. Already with this 200mm, the Moon and Mars left me a deep wow feeling! It was a lot of fun!

 

 

Date 21/04/2016
Time 22:30-1:35
Location Venice Area, Italy
Altitude 8m
Lunar Phase Waxing gibbous 99%
Temperature 11C (0 km/h)
Seeing 1 - Perfect seeing
Transparency 3 - Somewhat clear
Telescopes SkyWatcher 200 F6
Eyepieces Panoptic 24, Delos12, Delos 8, Vixen SLV 5, Bresser SA 2x, PM2.5x

Moon - Satellite 50x, 100x, 150x, 240x, 250x, 300x, 375x, 480x, 600x
Due to the full Moon, I spent most of the time on the South border as this was the only region showing mountains and presenting a little amount of shadow. The seeing was steady for almost 10 days. There was no sign of turbulence on the Southern border of the Moon up to 300x and only a very little amount up to 600x. At magnification higher than 375x a sort of flyby effect was noticeable. The borders of the mountains and hills were well distinct and numerous types of ground undulations emerged. At 600x (V5+PM2.5x) these hills were still well observable. The image was a bit blurred but still impressive. To avoid nudging the telescope I simply pointed the telescope to a border of the moon and left the Moon pass through. The best view to me was at 250x-300x.

Mars - Planet 150x, 200x, 240x, 250x, 300x
Thankfully Mars emerged from the high clouds and I managed to see it for about 20 minutes. As for the Moon, the best view was at 250x-300x. Unfortunately, I had to reduce magnification as clouds were slowly covering it. Considering the map of Mars published by Sky and Telescope, April 2016, I think the orientation of Mars was longitude 315 degrees. The Polar region was visible although I expected it to be a bit more obvious. On the left (at the eyepiece), there was what in the map seems to be Syrtis Major. This region was considerably darker than the rest of the planet and well noticeable. On the right there was another darker area although less detectable. I think this was Sinus Sabaeus. In between these two darker regions, there was a distinct red region which, if I am correct about Mars orientation, should be Aeria Arabia Moab Eden. These features were somehow visible at lower magnification although less obvious. This was the first time I observed Mars with adequate aperture and more seriously. Overall, I really enjoy observing Mars. I could not spot Phobos or Deimos. Not sure whether they are feasible, but certainly not tonight due to the layer of humidity on the atmosphere. At 250x-300x the size was more than adequate to see enough details. These should be clearer next month when Mars will reach a diameter of 18.6". Tonight it was about 14".

Saturn - Planet 150x, 200x, 250x
Only managed a very short observation due to the approaching clouds. Saturn was already partially covered when I started and the Cassini division was just faintly detectable on the rings border for the first few seconds. Despite the overall decrease in brightness, the Southern equatorial belt was still visible for another couple of minutes before the area was going to be slowly covered.

[jetstream]

Great report Piero!

Glad that the 200mm is working so well Under that kind of seeing detail can open right up, I hope you get seeing like this for your whole stay! Mars is a favorite with so many features able to be seen, can't wait for a go at it myself!

Keep the reports coming Piero!

[baggywrinkle]

Great reading.

[Stu]

Nice report Piero, must be good to have some aperture to play with  

Mars under good conditions is one of my favourite objects to view, just amazing what you can see and it looks sort of like another earth with the ice caps and 'land formations'

Shall I change the thread title to say Saturn not Jupiter?

[Piero]

22 minutes ago, Stu said:

Shall I change the thread title to say Saturn not Jupiter?

Yes, please Stu! I just noticed myself too!

 

Thanks all for the kind words! Mars was really stunning over here last night! A view to take with for a long time!

[kerrylewis]

Lovely report Piero - great that you could take a good sized scope with you. I remember clearly the handful of occasions when I've viewed Mars under excellent conditions. As Stu says, it's reallly gives you the feeling of looking at another world. Once the view was so wonderful that I even called my wife to come and look - I think she was impressed! 

Enjoy the rest of your stay in my favourite country 

Kerry 

[laudropb]

Lovely report. As you say the conditions here are usually the opposite . The last couple of nights here transparency has been good, but the seeing very poor.

[Special K]

Great stuff Piero, inspiring me to learn some geography of Mars to observe!