martian features + dso's

[matt c]

Hey all weather report said it would clear up last night so i waited till 12 o'clock, until every cloud had disappeared from the sky set the scope down and waited half an hour for it to cool.

First thing was first seeing more detail on mars i sat and watched for around half an hour and what can i say it paid off, I saw detail for the first time. I put the 6mm piece in and could definately see dark areas between the poles, and a tiny bright patch on one of the poles them selfs.

Next was gemini and a new star cluster. M 35 was very easy to find it filled my field of view with a rich selection of stars. There's another cluster behind it, but i didn't see maybe because M 35 keep my eye drawn away.

Next to ursa major I revisited M 81 and M82 my favourite being M 82 because of how it apears in my light polluted sky. I looked at my star map and saw that M 108 and M97 were hi enough above trees so I spent some time looking for them. I finally found one of them and after reading their description i realised that it was the owl, it took me even longer to find M 108. I must of swept past it many times before i saw it, by now it was getting late so i decieded to have one last look at mars.

By now it was 2:30 and being defeated by the cold and brought the scope back in, which brought with it stones from the garden that had frozen to the base of it.

Hope this wasn't to long, this was my third time out and a very enjoyable experience, i just wanted to share it with you

[Beulah]

Not long enough!!! Great report, thanks.

I must drag the scope out to the back and explore Ursa Major again...especially with the shocking clarity of the skies of late.

[pvaz]

Great report!

Mars is showing some detail now, I'm glad you enjoyed it. I also love the area around Ursa Major. There's a lot to see there.

[DarkerSky]

Excellent report. M82 is one of my all time favourites too

[Talitha]

Thanks for the wonderful report, Matt... make them as long as you like. I'm glad the weather report was accurate and you were able to get out for a while, you picked some great targets.