Mars appears white through 80 mm frac and 127mm mak.

[Analysis Paralysis]

Hi. I looked at Mars for first time in my life recently. I expected to see a red disc. Instead it looked white with a faint dark band. Anyone else experiencing white rather than a red colour? My wife also confirmed similar view, so it's not my eyes that are the problem. 

Thank you. 

Mark

[callisto]

I think you've just viewed Jupiter

[John]

Mars is a distinct pink colour with darker patches on the southern hemisphere. If the seeing conditions are poor it still appears distinctly pink.

What you describe does sound more like Jupiter which does have bands across the central part of a white / cream disk.

 

[Analysis Paralysis]

1 minute ago, John said:

Mars is a distinct pink colour with darker patches on the southern hemisphere. If the seeing conditions are poor it still appears distinctly pink.

What you describe does sound more like Jupiter which does have bands across the central part of a white / cream disk.

 

Hi John, 

Definitely not jupiter. Location was correct for mars. I've seen jupiter and this was definitely not that planet. On all occasions also, there were no moons, which would immediately alert me. I do have issues with seeing  very pale pink colour, so that might be contributing to my problem. So, it definitely wouldn't look red then? 

Mark

[Analysis Paralysis]

11 minutes ago, callisto said:

I think you've just viewed Jupiter

Hi Callisto

Thank you for your reply. See my response to John. Definitely not jupiter. I'm familiar with viewing that planet.😉 It may be my eyes. 

[callisto]

1 minute ago, Analysis Paralysis said:

Hi Callisto

Thank you for your reply. See my response to John. Definitely not jupiter. I'm familiar with viewing that planet.😉 It may be my eyes. 

Very strange 

Can you take an image through the eyepiece with a phone?

 

Mark

[Analysis Paralysis]

7 minutes ago, callisto said:

Very strange 

Can you take an image through the eyepiece with a phone?

 

Mark

Hi. I tried to do that but no luck. But, I could stick a dslr on when we have a clear night? Sky safari pro certainly supports its position. Of course, any imaging could mislead any conclusions on colour, as it could concentrate the colour giving it a redder colour. 

[Analysis Paralysis]

Just now, Analysis Paralysis said:

Hi. I tried to do that but no luck. But, I could stick a dslr on when we have a clear night? Sky safari pro certainly supports its position. Of course, any imaging could mislead any conclusions on colour, as it could concentrate the colour giving it a redder colour. 

 

[callisto]

Yeah, very true.....was just wondering what your Eyepiece view was like

[John]

12 minutes ago, Analysis Paralysis said:

Hi John, 

Definitely not jupiter. Location was correct for mars. I've seen jupiter and this was definitely not that planet. On all occasions also, there were no moons, which would immediately alert me. I do have issues with seeing  very pale pink colour, so that might be contributing to my problem. So, it definitely wouldn't look red then? 

Mark

This is a reasonably accurate representation of Mars as it appears at around 300x magnification through a moderate size scope:

[globular]

Do you have a filter somewhere in the light path?  Screwed into the diagonal and forgotten about maybe?

[RobertI]

I have to confess, I find the pink colour very slight through my 100ED, and once observing I don't notice it all and it just seems almost white! Through my Tal100R achromat it does have a distinct deep pink colour though.

[Analysis Paralysis]

9 minutes ago, John said:

This is a reasonably accurate representation of Mars as it appears at around 300x magnification through a moderate size scope:

Hi John

And that is exactly what I hoped to see! 😏. My magnification maxed out at 150 but I'd have expected some colour visually, with both scopes. The pale band I saw did match with sky safari pro. It was when syrtis major wasn't visible on 10th October. 

[Analysis Paralysis]

10 minutes ago, globular said:

Do you have a filter somewhere in the light path?  Screwed into the diagonal and forgotten about maybe?

No. Also two different lenses showed same colour. A 10mm ortho, and a 8-24mm baader zoom. 

[Analysis Paralysis]

6 minutes ago, RobertI said:

I have to confess, I find the pink colour very slight through my 100ED, and once observing I don't notice it all and it just seems almost white! Through my Tal100R achromat it does have a distinct deep pink colour though.

So, if I have trouble with pale pink, it might appear white to me. I suspect if I looked through a 8 inch or bigger, the extra light gathering might override my handicap? 

[Analysis Paralysis]

18 minutes ago, callisto said:

Yeah, very true.....was just wondering what your Eyepiece view was like

Nice sharp image. Nice to just see how big it looks, at close approach. Interestingly, I had a 60 mm spotting scope which showed two bands on jupiter at 30x mag, so can't wait to see it in my 80 mm ed! 

[Mand1]

Mars has appeared as a white disc to me  as well all week. It’s just too bright.

it is recommended to try various filters. I’ve got a variable polarising one on the way to try. 
My max  useable magnification has been around 150x.

[kerrylewis]

When Mars is close to opposition it can be very bright and this can cause a bit of bleaching out of its colour. I find that an orange filter helps to counter the brightness and bring out any dark features. The colour cast is obviously exaggerated but at least it’s a ‘natural’ colour. 

[Analysis Paralysis]

9 hours ago, Mand1 said:

Mars has appeared as a white disc to me  as well all week. It’s just too bright.

it is recommended to try various filters. I’ve got a variable polarising one on the way to try. 
My max  useable magnification has been around 150x.

So, I wonder if it will appear redder as it shrinks? 

 

[DaveL59]

last night using the LT70AZ and svbony 7-21 it appeared orange-ish to me, or at least ochre. More so as mag increased. Adding a 2x and even 3x TAL barlow into the path still gave an orange orb but a little more subtle contrast differences across the disc. I was pushing that scope in terms of ability tho and above 200x things got soft, not to mention the problem focusing and following on the poor, wobbly LT mount. 

I guess if discriminating reds is a problem then it may well appear white and being very bright won't help. I wasn't very dark adapted when I was viewing having not long had a grocery delivery so that may have helped too. Was certainly less like staring into a lightbulb compared with my previous attempt at viewing Mars 🙂 

[Paul M]

15 hours ago, Analysis Paralysis said:

So, I wonder if it will appear redder as it shrinks? 

I don't imagine it will. To best see the colour you wan't as large a usable image as you can achieve with your telescope. Spreading that light out over a larger image reduces the brightness and, perhaps, makes the subtle colour more discernible. 

A smaller Mars is a harder subject all round. 

I think that, as with many astronomical observations, individual perception, experience and observing skill come into play. Mars is definitely just pale pink to my eyes with subtle darker markings. Never Red.

It would be interesting to observe Jupiter and Mars in quick succession. You would then see the difference quite clearly by contrast. Unfortunately that isn't doable right now. 

Perhaps look up Uranus, to most observers it appears a a pale blue/green disk. Sweeping to Mars would then definitely show the difference.

[Zermelo]

I was surprised how white it looked when I observed it a few weeks ago (my first time through a "proper" telescope, 6" newt with a low-dispersion EP, no filter).

[Deadlake]

I swapped out the stock diagonal for a Baader prism. Mars when from white to red, I suspect a filter might help as well.

[Neil H]

It was white to me too bresser 127 refractor  no filters .not had a clear night to get me 8 inch Newtonian out and this weekend is clouds again 

Edited November 7, 2020 by Neil H

[cupton]

I have an ED80 and 127 Mak and the past few weeks when I’ve had a chance to view Mars through both scopes it was definitely on the lighter side of pink if not an off white color. Might have something to do with how close she is to us right now. A couple weeks back it was so bright, any detail was hard to pick up for me. Used both a 2” dielectric and a Tak prism. Even in the Mak using the Tak diagonal at 192x I could barley pick up any pink/red color.  Good detail though and one nice contrast.