CentaurZ Posted July 14, 2018 Share Posted July 14, 2018 Mars will appear at a perihelic opposition from the Sun during the night of 2018 JUL 26-27. Greatest brilliance at magnitude -2.8 is expected on JUL 28, with closest approach to Earth on JUL 31. It will be nearly as bright and close as in 2003, which was its closest in more than 60,000 years. Photos and descriptions of Mars during its current apparition would be welcome additions to this thread. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Posted July 14, 2018 Share Posted July 14, 2018 Great news ! Pity about the dust storm on the planet Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pig Posted July 14, 2018 Share Posted July 14, 2018 All setup and ready here..... the forecast is looking good for tonight ? I am happy at seeing some Mars dust. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Posted July 14, 2018 Share Posted July 14, 2018 20 minutes ago, Pig said: All setup and ready here..... the forecast is looking good for tonight ? I am happy at seeing some Mars dust. Me too - got the 130 triplet out this evening Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trikeflyer Posted July 14, 2018 Share Posted July 14, 2018 Me too. Only the Meade etx 125 though. Waiting for Jupiter and possibly Mars as I have to be to bed earlier than usual as need to be up at 5am! I'm going to the Royal International Air Tattoo at RAF Fairford in Gloucestershire. Should be a great day celebrating the RAF 100 year anniversary. Binoculars are ready, only cheap 7x50 but should be good for spotting planes! Steve Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Posted July 15, 2018 Share Posted July 15, 2018 Great views of the martian planetary disk tonight. Very vague suggestions of dark and light features but the dust storm continues. By far the largest and crispest that I've seen Mars and without the dust storn, the detail would be wonderful. More patience needed though - lets hope that the storms subside while Mars is still close to opposition. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chiltonstar Posted July 15, 2018 Share Posted July 15, 2018 Mars Rovers should obviously been fitted with vacuum cleaners for our benefit! Quite a sharp disk again last night (180 Mak, x190) with, as John says, faint hints of details and a white N pole. With the naked eye, the brightness and reddish colour of Mars are amazing - I had a couple of dog walkers ask me what it was last night. Chris Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stu Posted July 15, 2018 Share Posted July 15, 2018 Still haven’t had a good look at Mars this apparition, must drag myself out of bed! It does look fabulous with the naked eye doesn’t it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pig Posted July 15, 2018 Share Posted July 15, 2018 Mars certainly does look like a neat red disc, but as John says little to no detail ? fingers crossed though and here’s hoping that the storm blows over soon . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paulastro Posted July 15, 2018 Share Posted July 15, 2018 I've been observing Mars regularly since early May pre-dust storm, the last viewing being last night. The seeing was rather poor but in moments it did seem the albedo markings were showing through the dust a little better than previously - something I had suspected during other recent observations, but last night being the best. It's certainly no featureless disk. I think perhaps some people are being put off by the dust storm which is a shame as there are features to be seen, even if they are rather vague. There is reason to be optimistic though - Mars is still at least 20 arcseconds or bigger and at least m-2.0 or brighter until around September 5th/6th so plenty of time yet. Good timing for me as I'm off to Kelling on September 6th for a week . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CentaurZ Posted July 15, 2018 Author Share Posted July 15, 2018 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
astromackem Posted July 25, 2018 Share Posted July 25, 2018 Was letting the cat in last night and WOW I was stunned with Mars... brightest ive ever seen it. I could even pick out the icecaps from a zoomed in SLR shot Not sure if Its high enough to get the scope on it mind. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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