Tiny Mars, April 5th 2021

[mikeDnight]

Another cold clear night and Mars was coaxing me to take yet another peep at it's shrinking globe as it distances itself from us. In the eyepiece the disc was very tiny, and it was a fine balance between getting the maximum magnification and image scale to match my local seeing. This evening, using a shorter eyepiece than the 3.4mm HR just washed out the subtle detail. And although not a patch on its former self when close to opposition,  there's still a hint of darker albedo features and bright areas; the main features being (if I'm right, and I'm not always), Aeolis & Mare Tyrrhenum on the equator and southward (dark),  and the bright area in the north is Elysium.

[ScouseSpaceCadet]

You teased out quite a bit of detail from that tiny disc. 👍

[mikeDnight]

It was a challenge but the seeing was reasonable. The real problem is that that aspect of the globe is generally pretty bland at the best of times. Still, it was fun and something to do. ☺