Mars, toilet in the way

[alan potts]

20 hours ago, chiltonstar said:

Mars was reasonably decent at times here last night, although the heat plume from a house gave it the shimmers for 90% of the time. Still, the N ice cap was clearly visible, with some surface detail, even on the boring side! Saturn was nice though - the clearest and sharpest I've seen Cassini with my new scope, even though there was a haze which dulled colours and made Saturn a kind of khaki orange rather than the normal cream. Seeing well above the horizon was good to excellent however, with doubles like Delta Cygni very nicely split.

Chris

Chris,

I don't know whether that says a lot for the new scope, which is it out of interest, or if it was the conditions. As I am sure you see from England Saturn is very low in the sky and that rarely is good for any target, both are not that brilliant from here and I am yet to get on them for one reason or another. As I said in the report Mars was a lovely colour by eye rising but that was purely atmostphere, absolutely steady though. I do wonder if I had got a scope onto it this low though if the same could be reported, I think not.

Alan

[Piero]

22 hours ago, chiltonstar said:

Mars was reasonably decent at times here last night, although the heat plume from a house gave it the shimmers for 90% of the time. Still, the N ice cap was clearly visible, with some surface detail, even on the boring side! Saturn was nice though - the clearest and sharpest I've seen Cassini with my new scope, even though there was a haze which dulled colours and made Saturn a kind of khaki orange rather than the normal cream. Seeing well above the horizon was good to excellent however, with doubles like Delta Cygni very nicely split.

Chris

Nice One Chris!

A steady seeing is all what is needed for these targets and I am glad that you got a lovely view of Saturn too! The rings are oriented nicely in these years and this can reveal outstanding views of the Cassini division. Last Saturday I observed it with my 200mm under steady conditions and it was as clear as in a textbook. A memory which won't be lost! 

Cheers, Piero