Mars 14 Oct 2020

[mikeDnight]

Not a good night as there was light cloud and turbulence at the time of observation. 

[johninderby]

Matches what I saw earlier this morning. Thin cloud and not very steady seeing. Stll better than nothing for first light with the StellaLya CC6. 

[chiltonstar]

Another brilliant sketch Mike! I was getting the scope out last night, but cloud appeared and Mars vanished. A quick look at the weather and radar app. showed the forecast had changed completely in an hour or so - British weather!

Chris

[jock1958]

Nice one @mikeDnight I can still see lots of detail in your sketch. 
It was pretty good down here with lots of albedo features visible in the southern hemisphere regions, according to the Mars Mapper app Olympus Mons should have been centrally placed in the northern regions about 22.00 UT last night, do you think it’s possible to see this lighter feature with a 4” Tak FC-100DL? 

[dweller25]

That’s very good Mike, I was out observing at the same time 🙂

[dweller25]

2 minutes ago, jock1958 said:

Nice one @mikeDnight I can still see lots of detail in your sketch. 
It was pretty good down here with lots of albedo features visible in the southern hemisphere regions, according to the Mars Mapper app Olympus Mons should have been centrally placed in the northern regions about 22.00 UT last night, do you think it’s possible to see this lighter feature with a 4” Tak FC-100DL? 

I used binoviewers and a neutral density filter to try and see Olympus Mons last night in my DZ but no joy 🙁

Edited October 15, 2020 by dweller25

[jock1958]

3 minutes ago, dweller25 said:

I used binoviewers and a neutral density filter to try and see Olympus Mons last night in my DZ but no joy 🙁

I spent ages but couldn’t see any variations in colour (salmon pink) in the northern regions using my 3-6 NZ & Badder ND filter. 

[Ruud]

Excellent sketch, Mike. Thanks for sharing!

[mikeDnight]

7 hours ago, jock1958 said:

Nice one @mikeDnight I can still see lots of detail in your sketch. 
It was pretty good down here with lots of albedo features visible in the southern hemisphere regions, according to the Mars Mapper app Olympus Mons should have been centrally placed in the northern regions about 22.00 UT last night, do you think it’s possible to see this lighter feature with a 4” Tak FC-100DL? 

Yes you should be able to see Olympus Mons as either a bright spot which is quite large, or as a circular smudge. It's not always obvious though and is variable in its intensity, largely due to our atmosphere or dust storms on Mars. At the time of my observation and taking into account the equatorial tilt of the planet, Olympus Mons may be the bright area on the limb at the ten o'clock position. Often mists and cloud appear much more obvious around the limb or against the terminator, and become less obvious as they move onto the disk. I wouldn't worry if you didn't detect it on this occasion,  just keep looking for it and sooner or later it will show itself. A blue 80A will enhance bright areas while an orange 21 enhances the darks. I've found that a yellow 11 works well on both with regard to Mars. You've definitely got the scope for it!

Edited October 15, 2020 by mikeDnight

[jock1958]

1 hour ago, mikeDnight said:

Yes you should be able to see Olympus Mons as either a bright spot which is quite large, or as a circular smudge. It's not always obvious though and is variable in its intensity, largely due to our atmosphere or dust storms on Mars. At the time of my observation and taking into account the equatorial tilt of the planet, Olympus Mons may be the bright area on the limb at the ten o'clock position. Often mists and cloud appear much more obvious around the limb or against the terminator, and become less obvious as they move onto the disk. I wouldn't worry if you didn't detect it on this occasion,  just keep looking for it and sooner or later it will show itself. A blue 80A will enhance bright areas while an orange 21 enhances the darks. I've found that a yellow 11 works well on both with regard to Mars. You've definitely got the scope for it!

Thanks Mike. Any particular make on those filters you mention or will cheap & cheerful do?  Looking at the incredible detail in your sketches am I right in saying that additional items like bino-viewers, filters & extenders are the way to go?  

[mikeDnight]

21 minutes ago, jock1958 said:

Thanks Mike. Any particular make on those filters you mention or will cheap & cheerful do?  Looking at the incredible detail in your sketches am I right in saying that additional items like bino-viewers, filters & extenders are the way to go?  

Celestron seem to offer good planetary filters, as do Orion, but I suspect their origin is the same. Obviously big names mean big prices. ENS for example have a nice set of filters on sale that were made by Brandon for £100 I think, but you don't need to spend that much to get good filters. I think the single biggest game changer for me happened when I bought a binoviewer, though last night I just used a single eyepiece.  And you don't need expensive eyepieces for bino viewing. A pair of 18mm ortho's in your DL will give amazing views of the Moon and planets. The best view of Jupiter that I've ever had was through a DL with a SW Delux 2X barlow and a cheap binoviewer & 16.8mm ortho's. Jupiter was higher than it is at present and the detail jaw-dropping, and noticeably more detailed than the view through a TMB Super Monocentric.