Mars-WOW!

Towa · December 9, 2009

Wow!! Observed Mars this morning in very heavy dew conditions and totally blown away

by the view. Using an Evostar 120mm f/8.3 Achromat and Seben binoviewers at 400x

magnification, I was in total awe of the detail seen.

Features seen were the North polar cap with dark collar, Utopia, Elysium, Syrtis Major (appears to

be a fainter over the last two days) Hellas (again not as bright as on previous occasions)

Tyrrhenum and Cimmerium which was very dark.

What really got me was the different levels of colour on the surface of the planets. Light browns,

dark browns and black patches. Also some brightening on the limb. Without a doubt the very best image

that I've ever had of the planet at this size (10 arc seconds).

Now, really looking forward to seeing Mars in the New Year.

yeti monster · December 9, 2009

I shall be home next week, I am really looking forward to a clear view of Mras, it's such a long time since I last had a decent sighting.

russ · December 10, 2009

Sounds like you are enjoying Mars

It's amazing just how much detail is on show from a 10 arc sec disk. This has been my astro highlight for 2009!

beamish · December 10, 2009

Snap- been a long time in the waiting !

dweller25 · December 10, 2009

x85 per inch - wow, that's a good scope.

I was also out on the morning of the 9th drawing Mars - will post a drawing soon.

It may be a small target but it's interesting :-)

Towa · December 10, 2009

Mars- now you see it, now you don't.

Had a Tak scope out this morning and was struggling to get to 200x, picked-up some features but sky conditions were not playing ball.

Yesterday was a great morning, even had the little 3 inch refractor up to 250x on the moon and Mars.

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