Mars again- 8/9 October 2020

[markse68]

Well I wasn’t expecting that! The forecast was clear for a few hours but the jetstream forecast looked appalling- thought i’d have a look to see just how bad it could be anyway. Three hours later- a really great session indeed! Seeing was excellent once the unforecast clouds had passed. And no wind at all- perfect!

Extra pleasure was brought by giving first light to a new pencil- a rather fine Japanese model in a fetching burgundy brown lacquer- lacquer so perfect it was like holding a high quality chopstick 😉 It even has a serial number stamped on the back! Don’t be fooled by the 6B though- more like a 2 or 3B I reckon. I got a new light too- it’s quite ingenious charging through the middle prong which has usb contacts- very cool. 

Notable features tonight were limb brightening on 3 sides, a small lighter patch above the left dark feature, and really surprising a very thin prominence jutting out the bottom edge of the left dark feature. I played around with several eps- BCOs, CZJOs and a 10mm eudiascopic but settled on 5 and 7 XWs for most of the time which were super comfortable and I think just as sharp/contrasty- they really are excellent. The 7 gave more contrast for subtle large scale features but the 5 was perfect for finer detail.

Mark

edit: the left dark feature is of course Mare Cimmerium (or Terra Cimmeria!) I need to start learning the names

edit 2: I've just found out that the thin prominence or spike is called Sinus Gomer (actually 2 spikes I think but only one visible to me)

Edited October 9, 2020 by markse68

[RobertI]

Nice report and lovely sketch. 

[vineyard]

It was a great night wasn't it.  A lovely sketch 👏🏾 & a nice pencil. Someone asked me recently how would you describe the smell of a freshly sharpened pencil - I couldn't put it into words!

[markse68]

3 hours ago, vineyard said:

It was a great night wasn't it.  A lovely sketch 👏🏾 & a nice pencil. Someone asked me recently how would you describe the smell of a freshly sharpened pencil - I couldn't put it into words!

It was- perfect- though i’m paying for it now- slept right through my alarms 🤦‍♂️😂 I’m torn when it comes to that first sharpening of a pencil- it’s such a pleasurable thing to do with a sharp bladed sharpener - like breaking the seal on a jar of instant coffee or custard powder, but it seems so wrong to violate their innocent perfection 😳 Oh that smell too yes!

[dweller25]

Another great observation and drawing Mark.