What is happening with Mars...?

[resonator77]

Did try to image Mars two days in a row with no luck. Even with C11 and 2.5 barlow it appeared no more than a blurry speck... However to my consolation it was next to Mars the other day which was in line with Stellarium

Never seen anything like that before. Is there any reason for this or have I gone completely bonkers? (the latter being most probable affect of holiday binge) 

[mikeDnight]

Two days ago i observed mars visually and although it is now below 6" arc, i expected to see some hint of detail. Unfortunately for me there was nothing visible! Just slightly out of focus it became evident i was looking through a rapidly moving river of turbulent air. Perhapse its because of the same fast moving current of air that your imaging was unproductive. Also, there were ice crystals in the air last night and they too soften the view.

Mike

[Pieter]

A topic showed this as well with a lot of people not seeing any detail.

I'll link it for you :

https://stargazerslounge.com/topic/283756-skywatcher-150p-unable-to-view-mars/#comment-3107294

 

I can't say since I have still not ordered my telescope

[Peter Drew]

The current problem with Mars, by the time you have used sufficient magnification to see a decent disc size, its low declination means that the seeing won't generally support it. Roll on 2018!    

[Tim]

Watch out on 31 Dec and 1st Jan, Neptune will be crossing close behind Mars  

[resonator77]

5 minutes ago, Peter Drew said:

The current problem with Mars, by the time you have used sufficient magnification to see a decent disc size, its low declination means that the seeing won't generally support it. Roll on 2018!    

is not going to change April 2017 then? I was for a moment searching for a cooler, thinking my SCT is building up too much heat to cope with cold weather....

[Peter Drew]

Mars comes to opposition every two years, it will still be low for some time unfortunately.   

[ArmyAirForce]

23 minutes ago, Peter Drew said:

.... Roll on 2018!    

Around closest approach in 2018, it will only be around 13 degrees above the horizon for me, so I'm not expecting anything great from it. I got some decent shots in 2014, but it was around 30 degrees high then. This is one of my best.

[resonator77]

6 minutes ago, ArmyAirForce said:

Around closest approach in 2018, it will only be around 13 degrees above the horizon for me, so I'm not expecting anything great from it. I got some decent shots in 2014, but it was around 30 degrees high then. This is one of my best.

Alas, I was to busy image back in 2014...

Should shelve this idea for at least a couple of years then

[ArmyAirForce]

I just realised I've updated my Stellarium a few days ago, and it reset my default location. Upon resetting it and checking the position of Mars again, in 2018, Mars will only be 9 degrees above the horizon for me at its closest approach. Not really worth opening the observatory with it at that height!

[John]

The December 2022 opposition of Mars should be a good one. The apparent size of the disk is 17 arc seconds (nearly 3x what it currently is) but even more importantly the planet will be in Taurus so nice and high !

Only 6 years to wait ......