Mars 6/7th November 2020

[markse68]

I was stuck in Sweden so missed all the fun earlier in the week but the forecast was good till the end of the week and for once wasn’t too far off- had a lovely few hours last night when i got back apart from the wet hazy freezing air- too cold to sketch but really good seeing and the first time i’ve really been able to differentiate the general darker nature of the Southern hemisphere compared to the North!

Tonight was great too- I didn’t get out till midnight but by then the sky was clear and the jetstream forecast was favourable. But boy has Mars got its skates on! Much lower than what seems like just the other day and moving much further east. I was seeing obvious colour smearing from ad and after an hour or so popped the adc in which did improve seeing (haven’t used it in ages as didn’t need to!) 

Anyway details were crisp and contrasty and i know i’ve been here in the rotation before but it’s  Syrtis Major moving off toward the limb and Sinus Sabaeus centre stage forming the lower of 3 dark finger like structures. Hellas and spc still obvious and general darkening of the South like the night before. Lovely view! By 2am Mars was dropping so fast i was having to notch the adc a bit further each time i repositioned the scope after it drifted through view until it all got a bit mushy and i called it quits. 

After Mars I had my first view this year of the Trapezium e and f stars 😊 and failed to see the pup though it really felt stable enough that i should have- what an elusive blighter that pup is! Fab night anyway 

Mark

 

[Nik271]

Nice report, Mark! Mars is rapidly dwindling now, but there are still great views to be had, we will miss it when it's gone. I try to observe it as often as I can.

The Pup is eluding me as well. 

Clear skies! (maybe the transparency will get better with less traffic these days... )

Nikolay

[RobertI]

Great report and nice sketch. I am getting to know Mars so well with all these reports and my own observations. What scope did you use?

[markse68]

1 hour ago, RobertI said:

Great report and nice sketch. I am getting to know Mars so well with all these reports and my own observations. What scope did you use?

Thanks Robert. Yes Mars has become quite familiar with this amazing apparition hasn’t it! I used my Fullerscope 8.75” f7.2 dob and an XW7mm mainly but played around with a few other eps.

3 hours ago, Nik271 said:

The Pup is eluding me as well. 

Clear skies! (maybe the transparency will get better with less traffic these days... )

Thanks Nik. Indeed, the lockdowns do seem to have a positive side for astronomy- clear skies to you too!

Mark

[dweller25]

Good drawing Mark, I was out much earlier at 20:30 on the 6th Nov when Syrtis Major was on the other side of the planet