Mars 7/5/18

[mikeDnight]

At almost 13 seconds of arc Mars, despite its low angle, was rewarding to sketch. Albedo features revealed themselves quite easily.

 

[Victor Boesen]

Very impressive sketch! My hopes for Mars are very low this year because of the low altitude(only 6 degrees in Denmark). In 2020 I will be prepared:-)

[paulastro]

Excellent sketch Mike.  I used my Astro-Tech 102ED on Sunday morning on Mars and I was able to use x354 using maxbright binoviewer, Baader Mk111 zoom and x2 barlow element in the nosepiece.  I was pleasantly surprised how good the image was at this power, though of course generally the best power was about half of this.  I was very pleased how well the albedo features showed up, and they were readily visible at x112.

The seeing was good but not exceptional, and the session has rather enthused me about the prospects for the apparition despite the altitude.  

[BRADLEY 1953]

HI   MIKE AND PAUL, GREAT STAMINA NEEDED TO STAY UP TILL DAWN OBSERVING MARS. I HIT THE SACK AT 1AM AFTER OBSERVING JUPITER FOR 2 HOURS. YET ANOTHER  FINE SKETCH OF MARS BY MIKE, EXCEPTIONAL CONSIDERING SIZE OF DISC AND LOW ALTITUDE. KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK.   BEST WISHES   CHRIS.

[mikeDnight]

On 07/05/2018 at 22:08, BRADLEY 1953 said:

HI   MIKE AND PAUL, GREAT STAMINA NEEDED TO STAY UP TILL DAWN OBSERVING MARS. I HIT THE SACK AT 1AM AFTER OBSERVING JUPITER FOR 2 HOURS. YET ANOTHER  FINE SKETCH OF MARS BY MIKE, EXCEPTIONAL CONSIDERING SIZE OF DISC AND LOW ALTITUDE. KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK.   BEST WISHES   CHRIS.

Thanks Chris!

To be honest, Paul has probably got more stamina than me when it comes to staying awake. I will sometimes set my alarm for the early hours, with the intention of getting up to observe Mars. I'm happy to let all the other planets sail on by until they rise in the evening, but Mars has a certain pull on me that the others do not. I'm not sure why! Perhaps it's because its mysterious and often challenging? Anyhow, there are many times when I lie awake waiting for my alarm to go off, at which point I fall fast asleep and miss everything. ?

[JeremyS]

Amazing detail, Mike. Hope many more Mars sketches to come.

Jeremy

[Pete Presland]

Growing all the time, its only going get better over the coming months. Some very nice detail in your sketch already.

[mariosi]

Very nice observationand sketch of Mars Mike! 

Marios

[niallk]

Wonderful sketch