OCTOBER 6TH, MARS OBSERVED AT CLOSEST APPROACH TO EARTH THIS EVENING

[paulastro]

I was pleased to observe Mars on its night of closest approach this evening, at its largest and brightest until 2035, m-2.6 and 22.6".

Managed to observe from 9.10 to 9.45 pm when it clouded over and started to rain again.  Because of heavy rain earlier, the sky was particular transparent and Mars looked spectacular between passing clouds.

Used the SW 120ED on my AZ4 as I couldn't get it from the observatory.  The view was quite good in less than ideal seeing and despite the occasional buffeting by the wind.  Mare Cimmerium and Mare Sirenium were quite obvious and in better moments I could see other more subtle detail.

I  used x150 with the binoviewer and Orthos and also the Baader Contrast Booster  which I always use on Mars. 

Lovely to be able to observe Mars at it's best.  A memorable observation.

Edited October 6, 2020 by paulastro

[Rustang]

I could see some coloration details for the first time ever tonight 😊

[mikeDnight]

Caught a glimpse of it at 10.40pm but only fleetingly. Lots of cloud and showers! Still its not the 7th until 1am, so I might still have a chance if I can convince myself to stay awake. 

[John]

Still nice and clear here - very nice martian details showing. Even my Mrs came out see them !

I've had both the Tak 100 and the LZOS 130 out tonight. Just the latter now. Also had some decent views of Jupiter, Saturn and Neptune.

Nice night so far despite some suspicious looking lumps of cloud here and there.

 

[paulastro]

40 minutes ago, mikeDnight said:

Caught a glimpse of it at 10.40pm but only fleetingly. Lots of cloud and showers! Still its not the 7th until 1am, so I might still have a chance if I can convince myself to stay awake. 

You go for it Mike 🔭

[John]

The seeing here went downhill after midnight and clouds have put the finishing touch on the session for me.

Hope others still have it good though

 

[Stu]

Still going strong here @John 👍👍

Seeing is pretty good still, a bit more variable than earlier but still moment me when it is very clear. Syrtis Major is just coming round the limb now, not seen that properly this apparition so will hang on for a while I think. Got to be up early though so could be a long day! 🤪😴

iPhone shot from earlier on.

[geoflewis]

Nice  report @paulastro. I've just come in from a session imaging Mars, so pretty chuffed that I've got some data to work later on as a record of its closest approach this apparation. Seeing was a bit in and out for me and lots of passing cloud made getting a sequence of video runs tricky, but after 2 weeks I've nothing I'm not complaining.

[geoflewis]

6 minutes ago, Stu said:

iPhone shot from earlier on

Not bad Stu, I've had worse images than that from a graded and stacked video session....

[Davey-T]

Just packed up, clouds relented eventually and  had some nice views with10"SCT using 13mm Ethos, tried 6mm but too many floaters in my eyes, needed a filter but couldn't lay my hands on one.

Took a few RGB 5000 frame vid's so will see how they turn out tomorrow.

Dave

[Pixies]

Cloudy here - with a few gaps. I tried to record something using my smartphone. But it was the first time I've tried anything like this and I think the focus is out a wee bit.

Anyway - processed very basically as per AstroDIY's guide. It's not great but at least I managed it on the big day!

 

 

Edited October 7, 2020 by Pixies

[Davey-T]

6 minutes ago, Pixies said:

Anyway - processed very basically as per AstroDIY's guide. It's not great but at least I managed it on the big day!

Says image unavailable

Dave

[Pixies]

2 minutes ago, Davey-T said:

Says image unavailable

Dave

Fixed it. Hardly worth it, though!

[geoflewis]

12 minutes ago, Pixies said:

Anyway - processed very basically as per AstroDIY's guide. It's not great but at least I managed it on the big day!

You definitely got it, well done 👌

[John]

2 minutes ago, Pixies said:

Fixed it. Hardly worth it, though!

Actually quite useful.

What many will see when they initially view Mars I reckon. But observe for longer and more detail will gradually be teased out

[Davey-T]

3 minutes ago, Pixies said:

Fixed it. Hardly worth it, though!

Looks pretty good for a phone image 

Dave

[AstroNebulee]

4 hours ago, Pixies said:

Cloudy here - with a few gaps. I tried to record something using my smartphone. But it was the first time I've tried anything like this and I think the focus is out a wee bit.

Anyway - processed very basically as per AstroDIY's guide. It's not great but at least I managed it on the big day!

 

 

Looking real good that image, something to have from the big day, I managed a few captures (when the clouds allowed) in sharpcap with my 150p & asi120mc-s, will process them later this evening but probably won't get anything as good as that 👍

[Frank the Troll]

Managed to view last night, only lasted 15 mins, before the clouds rolled in, but brilliantly  good seeing for those view minutes 

really bright and the reddest I seen in years

Quote

 

 

[Mark at Beaufort]

It rained quite a bit yesterday so decided not to take out the 12" Dob. I settled on the Skywatcher 150P and used Neodymium and Baader 0.9 ND filters. The best view came with the 10mm Baader Classic Ortho + Baader 2.25x barlow - mag 169x.

The polar cap was quite noticeable and thanks for this website (https://skyandtelescope.org/observing/interactive-sky-watching-tools/mars-which-side-is-visible/#) I was able to identify a central area of markings which appear to be Mare Sirenum, Clmmerium and Tyrrenum.

Around about 10pm it started to rain again so my session was ended.

Hope to use the 12" later in the week to obtain more detail.

[Rob]

Much to my pain. I've not been able to observe Mars yet due to a leg & arm injury for the past 7 weeks. I'm now in the position to start again, the weather has been awful down here but shows promise for the weekend (small window) so I'm keeping everything crossed.

I had info showing the 13th to be maximum, but we have the whole month & beyond of course... just so desperate to get out now.

 

[robbymain]

I also took in Mars using a 150P and 10mm and 6mm Radians last night and despite it's obvious size, very little detail was visible (could just detect the dark southern regions, but not a hint of SPC). The seeing appeared to be quite poor indeed from suburban Bristol. Last week was definitely better with a clearly defined SPC.

In fact achieving best focus was so tricky I might re-check collimation today... =(

Also I wonder if I need to invest in a Contrast Booster of some kind...?!

Well done to all the nice imaging results on here!

[mikeDnight]

8 hours ago, Pixies said:

Cloudy here - with a few gaps. I tried to record something using my smartphone. But it was the first time I've tried anything like this and I think the focus is out a wee bit.

Anyway - processed very basically as per AstroDIY's guide. It's not great but at least I managed it on the big day!

 

 

That is really beautiful, just like an eyepiece view frozen in time!  Enlarging the disk to about a centimetre begins to reveal some subtle detail particularly in the south, but also in the north too. How much do you see? ☺

Edited October 7, 2020 by mikeDnight

[geoflewis]

56 minutes ago, Rob said:

I had info showing the 13th to be maximum, but we have the whole month & beyond of course... just so desperate to get out now.

13th is Mars opposition, i.e. Earth directly between the Sun and Mars, but Earth overtook Mars in it's orbit yesterday, so that was actually the closest encounter.

[Rob]

8 minutes ago, geoflewis said:

13th is Mars opposition, i.e. Earth directly between the Sun and Mars, but Earth overtook Mars in it's orbit yesterday, so that was actually the closest encounter.

Thanks for this. Just need to get out there now!. Rob

[Pixies]

17 minutes ago, mikeDnight said:

That is really beautiful, just like an eyepiece view frozen in time!  Enlarging the disk to about a centimetre begins to reveal some subtle detail particularly in the south, but also in the north too. How much do you see? ☺

That view is pretty close to what I could see - although visually it was more in focus. The south polar cap was barely visible. I could make out Mare Cimmerium and Syrtis Minor - but the viewing was pretty unstable (windy) and I was dodging the clouds. It completely clouded over before I could settle down to sketch anything.