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Mars and Saturn


Piero

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Spent a nice time observing these two planets! Looking forward to seeing a sketch or an image of Mars in the next few days for comparison! :) 

Thanks for reading, 

Piero

 

Date 15/05/2016   
Time 01:00-02:15   
Location Cambridge, UK   
Temperature 4C (N 5 km/h)   
Seeing 1 - Perfect seeing   
Transparency 5 - Clear   
Darkness 19.55   
Telescopes Tele Vue 60 F6   
Eyepieces Delos 8, Vixen SLV 5, PM2.5x   
Filters    

Target Cons Type Power Notes
Moon - Planet 72x, 112x, 180x Just a quick sight to test the seeing. The moon was very steady. Mons Apenninus were darn crisp! 
Mars - Planet 72x, 112x, 180x My first view of Mars with the TV60. The North pole was slightly detectable. Its white light was visible altough the border was not clear. In the South hemisphere a long darker region moving to the South pole and then going up was very clear instead. I suspect that area was Syrtis Major and Mare Tyrrhenum, although it could have also been Syrtis Major and Mare Serpentis. The dark area was visible at all the magnifications. 
Saturn - Planet 72x, 112x, 180x A hint of the Cassini division was visible at 72x on the outer part of the rings. At this magnification a belt, likely the equatorial belt was also visible. Titan was well placed too. At 112x, the Cassini division was no longer detectable, although the belt was still there. At 180x the previous features were not clearly detectable, but Rhea was visible with direct vision. After spotting Rhea at 180x I managed to see it at 112x but only with averted vision by placing the planet beyond the field stop. At 180x it was very clear instead. What I am not sure I really spot with averted vision was Dione at 180x. The location where I thought I spotted it was correct but this is at 11mag, which is at the very limit if not possibly beyond the limit of my 60mm.
Beta Sco Dbl Star 40x Acrab. Placed just above Mars, a lovely double star not to miss when one is in Scorpio. Omega Sco are another lovely double star to check in the area.
M57 Lyr Pln Neb 40x, 112x Ring nebula. The ring was distinct at 40x and a little bit faded at 112x. Easy to find without any nebula filter.

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I had the pleasure of doing the same, my friend! Mars and Saturn look stunning in Scorpius.  Through the scope, Syrtis Major is easily visible on Mars, as is a bit of polar cap! I've done a few sketches of the red planet myself. Love the Cassini division on Saturn. And don't forget Jupiter; I caught a Ganymede moon and shadow transit a few nights ago.

 

Clear skies,

Reggie

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Excellent report Piero. 

I made a sketch of Mars a short time before you observed it. I worked out the central meridian to be approximately 227° at the time I finished my drawing, which meant Syrtis was off the disc, or just lingering on the following limb. The dark feature you saw I think was Hesperia with Tyrrhena just loitering in the bottom right of a north top mirror image view. It's impressive you detected the tiny polar cap in the north. Good scope and good observer I think!

Mike :happy11:

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9 hours ago, Piero said:

Spent a nice time observing these two planets! Looking forward to seeing a sketch or an image of Mars in the next few days for comparison! :) 

Thanks for reading, 

Piero

 

Date 15/05/2016   
Time 01:00-02:15   
Location Cambridge, UK   
Temperature 4C (N 5 km/h)   
Seeing 1 - Perfect seeing   
Transparency 5 - Clear   
Darkness 19.55   
Telescopes Tele Vue 60 F6   
Eyepieces Delos 8, Vixen SLV 5, PM2.5x   
Filters    

Target Cons Type Power Notes
Moon - Planet 72x, 112x, 180x Just a quick sight to test the seeing. The moon was very steady. Mons Apenninus were darn crisp! 
Mars - Planet 72x, 112x, 180x My first view of Mars with the TV60. The North pole was slightly detectable. Its white light was visible altough the border was not clear. In the South hemisphere a long darker region moving to the South pole and then going up was very clear instead. I suspect that area was Syrtis Major and Mare Tyrrhenum, although it could have also been Syrtis Major and Mare Serpentis. The dark area was visible at all the magnifications. 
Saturn - Planet 72x, 112x, 180x A hint of the Cassini division was visible at 72x on the outer part of the rings. At this magnification a belt, likely the equatorial belt was also visible. Titan was well placed too. At 112x, the Cassini division was no longer detectable, although the belt was still there. At 180x the previous features were not clearly detectable, but Rhea was visible with direct vision. After spotting Rhea at 180x I managed to see it at 112x but only with averted vision by placing the planet beyond the field stop. At 180x it was very clear instead. What I am not sure I really spot with averted vision was Dione at 180x. The location where I thought I spotted it was correct but this is at 11mag, which is at the very limit if not possibly beyond the limit of my 60mm.
Beta Sco Dbl Star 40x Acrab. Placed just above Mars, a lovely double star not to miss when one is in Scorpio. Omega Sco are another lovely double star to check in the area.
M57 Lyr Pln Neb 40x, 112x Ring nebula. The ring was distinct at 40x and a little bit faded at 112x. Easy to find without any nebula filter.

This is one of the two rough eyepiece sketches I made last night, which you'll hopefully be able to relate to. It might look like scribble but I understand it, I think! :happy8:

Mike 

2016-05-15 12.54.25.jpg

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1 hour ago, mikeDnight said:

Excellent report Piero. 

I made a sketch of Mars a short time before you observed it. I worked out the central meridian to be approximately 227° at the time I finished my drawing, which meant Syrtis was off the disc, or just lingering on the following limb. The dark feature you saw I think was Hesperia with Tyrrhena just loitering in the bottom right of a north top mirror image view. It's impressive you detected the tiny polar cap in the north. Good scope and good observer I think!

Mike :happy11:

Thanks Mike and thanks for your sketch! 

I think you are right about the Hesperia with Tyrrhena. I recognise Elysium too! :) The polar cap wasn't defined, but a hint of white light was detectable to me and this was only on the North polar region. The contrast between white and red was quite substantial to my eye. 

I was quite shocked to spot Rhea at 180x and still wonder about Dione. The latter (if I managed to) was a very very faint dot detectable with averted vision and was covered by the planet halo. While Rhea was quite obvious to see in comparison, the latter was detectable only half of the times. Maybe it was a faint star instead? The funny thing is that when I checked the position later, there was indeed Dione there.. :dontknow: 

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A nice description of Mars! For me, last night was the first time this Mars season I've seen reasonable detail although the seeing so near to the horizon was limited to about 10 ok secs per minute.

Chris

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On 15/05/2016 at 12:59, mikeDnight said:

This is one of the two rough eyepiece sketches I made last night, which you'll hopefully be able to relate to. It might look like scribble but I understand it, I think! :happy8:

Mike 

2016-05-15 12.54.25.jpg

Hi Mike, 

Likely I am late to this, but I just found out the Mars profiler application on the Sky and Telescope website. Calculating the times for that session, here we go: 

 

mars.png

The selected view is for refractors :cool: 

So, yeah, we were close! :) 

 

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Got out last nighy to observe these two beauts. Turned out seeing was TERRIBLE! I know the planets were low but ive never seen so much wobble.

Would looking out over the sea make much difference?

Jupiter was much better but still pretty poor compared to how i have seen it before.

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Thanks Miguel! :)

Generally Jupiter is more susceptible to bad seeing, as far as I know at least. Assuming that your telescope was well collimated, what mag were you using? 

 

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Got to see saturn for the first time last night, and it was freaking amazing!

Had a bad night at the darksite because the moon was making sure it was practically daylight out, and when I got home to turn in it was coming above my neighbors house, so I frantically posted up in the front yard to get a view of it.

So, having to set up out front makes me feel SO akward, but planets rise from behind my neighbors house. I'm posted up with my comically oversized telescope, aimed at their house while I kneel down going "OOOH my god... oh hell yeah!"

I probably look like a stone cold creeper but if they caught me I could bring them over to see what I'm seeing.

Great angle to view the gaps. I could see rings in the rings. Those freakin' rings just put it on a whole other level. I got a rush from finding it.

 

I love this stuff :D

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On 5/15/2016 at 02:59, Piero said:

Spent a nice time observing these two planets! Looking forward to seeing a sketch or an image of Mars in the next few days for comparison! :) 

Thanks for reading, 

Piero

 

Date 15/05/2016   
Time 01:00-02:15   
Location Cambridge, UK   
Temperature 4C (N 5 km/h)   
Seeing 1 - Perfect seeing   
Transparency 5 - Clear   
Darkness 19.55   
Telescopes Tele Vue 60 F6   
Eyepieces Delos 8, Vixen SLV 5, PM2.5x   
Filters    

Target Cons Type Power Notes
Moon - Planet 72x, 112x, 180x Just a quick sight to test the seeing. The moon was very steady. Mons Apenninus were darn crisp! 
Mars - Planet 72x, 112x, 180x My first view of Mars with the TV60. The North pole was slightly detectable. Its white light was visible altough the border was not clear. In the South hemisphere a long darker region moving to the South pole and then going up was very clear instead. I suspect that area was Syrtis Major and Mare Tyrrhenum, although it could have also been Syrtis Major and Mare Serpentis. The dark area was visible at all the magnifications. 
Saturn - Planet 72x, 112x, 180x A hint of the Cassini division was visible at 72x on the outer part of the rings. At this magnification a belt, likely the equatorial belt was also visible. Titan was well placed too. At 112x, the Cassini division was no longer detectable, although the belt was still there. At 180x the previous features were not clearly detectable, but Rhea was visible with direct vision. After spotting Rhea at 180x I managed to see it at 112x but only with averted vision by placing the planet beyond the field stop. At 180x it was very clear instead. What I am not sure I really spot with averted vision was Dione at 180x. The location where I thought I spotted it was correct but this is at 11mag, which is at the very limit if not possibly beyond the limit of my 60mm.
Beta Sco Dbl Star 40x Acrab. Placed just above Mars, a lovely double star not to miss when one is in Scorpio. Omega Sco are another lovely double star to check in the area.
M57 Lyr Pln Neb 40x, 112x Ring nebula. The ring was distinct at 40x and a little bit faded at 112x. Easy to find without any nebula filter.

Nice report Piero, thanks!

Don't doubt yourself with regards spotting Dione, I would have to side with you and say you did indeed see it.  The skill and experience of the observer plays a massive role in observations, regardless of the equipment used.  On the CN forums some so called 'observers' honestly believe a 60mm scope is only useful for the Sun and the Moon, they are clearly poor and unskilled observers.  Mag 11 is nowhere near the limits or beyond what a high quality 60mm scope can do, I have struck up a friendship with some experienced observers on the Yahoo group '60mm Telescope club' and you'll be amazed at what such a scope can do with all the tricks in the book being used to tease out detail; tapping the tube, averted vision, hyperventilating etc. Seeing stars of mag 12 and fainter are not unheard of and even reports of mag 13. I myself have caught Phobos at over 250x with the baby Tak 60 once WITHOUT prior knowledge, and doubted myself initially, the position was confirmed exactly where I spotted it in Starry Night Pro and Redshift. I caught it with averted vision as Mars was drifting across the FOV, I wasn't looking for it, but noticed a star like point fairly close to the ball of Mars...and decided to investigate it thinking it was a star close to occultation.

Tony.

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3 minutes ago, t0nedude said:

Nice report Piero, thanks!

Don't doubt yourself with regards spotting Dione, I would have to side with you and say you did indeed see it.  The skill and experience of the observer plays a massive role in observations, regardless of the equipment used.  On the CN forums some so called 'observers' honestly believe a 60mm scope is only useful for the Sun and the Moon, they are clearly poor and unskilled observers.  Mag 11 is nowhere near the limits or beyond what a high quality 60mm scope can do, I have struck up a friendship with some experienced observers on the Yahoo group '60mm Telescope club' and you'll be amazed at what such a scope can do with all the tricks in the book being used to tease out detail; tapping the tube, averted vision, hyperventilating etc. Seeing stars of mag 12 and fainter are not unheard of and even reports of mag 13. I myself have caught Phobos at over 250x with the baby Tak 60 once WITHOUT prior knowledge, and doubted myself initially, the position was confirmed exactly where I spotted it in Starry Night Pro and Redshift. I caught it with averted vision as Mars was drifting across the FOV, I wasn't looking for it, but noticed a star like point fairly close to the ball of Mars...and decided to investigate it thinking it was a star close to occultation.

Tony.

Wow! Thanks Tony for your nice words and encouragement! :) I think it is important to double check the exact position of these faint objects after an observation. Last night I saw it with more aperture. Dione was detectable, even if the Moon was out!

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Not a problem, if you still have any lingering doubts about just what a small telescope can do in the hands of a capable observer, you might find this interesting:

http://www.jayreynoldsfreeman.com/Aux/AstroPDFs/RRSaga.text.pdf

Jay Freeman using a Vixen FL55s (55mm F/8 Doublet Fluorite Apo) to observer the Herschel 400..

Very interesting and inspiring read.. :)

 

Tony.

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