Three recent Mars sketches.

[mikeDnight]

Attached are three of my most recent sketches. At the eyepiece the first impression is that there is little to see, but by critically focusing the scope and sketching the little that is actually visible in moments of steady seeing, over a short time a wealth of subtle detail reveals itself.

The last sketch was made on the night of May 21st and shows a great deal of subtle detail in the centre and the south that is not recorded on my small mars globe, but that was obvious in the eyepiece over time.

The scope was FC100DC @ ×148. It is a mirror view as I used a Tak prism and the seeing was Antoniadi 2-3 variable.

Mike

 

[John]

Excellent representation of that subtle detail Mike

Were you using the binoviewer for those observations or were you in "cyclops" mode ?

[mikeDnight]

2 hours ago, John said:

Excellent representation of that subtle detail Mike

Were you using the binoviewer for those observations or were you in "cyclops" mode ?

Hi John.

I was using a binoviewer. Somehow it seems to steady the view when the seeing is a bit turbulent. The seeing on the night of the last sketch was pretty stable, but in all honesty its never going to be good while viewing at such a low angle. What I find amazing is that I can see any detail at all. After making a rough sketch at the eyepiece and working out the central meridian, to then actually be able to relate the detail drawn with that on a map or globe is really quite thrilling. 

I hope you really enjoy your new DL. I'm sure it will be stunning! I would imagine it will be slightly less critical on focus than my DC due to its F9 ratio, though after fitting my FC with a Tak micro focuser I have no problem keeping it in sharp focus. I look forward  to some pics. 

Mike

Mike

[laudropb]

Very nice sketches Mike. Tried Mars last night but the seeing was terrible.

[mikeDnight]

2 hours ago, laudropb said:

Very nice sketches Mike. Tried Mars last night but the seeing was terrible.

I agree, it was terrible here too. Mars from my site was dancing around on the fringe of slow moving cloud and so was in constant turbulence. I did manage another sketch though, despite the poor conditions. I've attached the 22/5 sketch for your amusement! Obviously its a mirror image and I suspect the white area on the proceeding  (left) limb is related to Olympus Mons. There has been no indication of the north polar cap in my last two sketches. Only a couple of weeks ago it was very small and appeared to almost stand off the limb like a search light. The planet currently has a northern tilt of +10° and so the more detailed south is largely out of view.

Mike 

[michaelmorris]

Those are nice sketches.  Thanks for sharing.

[t0nedude]

7 hours ago, mikeDnight said:

I agree, it was terrible here too. Mars from my site was dancing around on the fringe of slow moving cloud and so was in constant turbulence. I did manage another sketch though, despite the poor conditions. I've attached the 22/5 sketch for your amusement! Obviously its a mirror image and I suspect the white area on the proceeding  (left) limb is related to Olympus Mons. There has been no indication of the north polar cap in my last two sketches. Only a couple of weeks ago it was very small and appeared to almost stand off the limb like a search light. The planet currently has a northern tilt of +10° and so the more detailed south is largely out of view.

Mike 

Yes the seeing was in the toilet last night/early wee hours of 23rd...was like viewing through a rippling boiling wave. I managed to get out with the baby Tak 60 to observe Mars as well (full report will be in reports but currently being worked on), but later during the morning there were occasional spells of steadiness.  I could definitely see that the ball of Mars was not blank and details were there even at 67x and 100x, although the image scale was too small at the power to actually make a shape to them. I went to 200X but just too much last night/early morning, so I was stuck with 100x due to my own disorganisation (in report)  Also thought a fair few times that I could see the NPC, but according to your last sketch maybe I was mistaken? I also noted a brightening of the Eastern limb (prism - E/W reversed) as per your last image.

Tony.