Why is Mars such a *&"$(&! ?

[TheThing]

I thought I read somewhere that Schiaparelli had observed and noted them in 1877 - he called them "canali"

'Canali' means something entirely different to 'canals' in Italian, so I recall. It was a mis-translation that lead to them being referred to as canals.

[brianb]

'Canali' means something entirely different to 'canals' in Italian, so I recall.

Channels?

Anyhow Schiaparelli clearly drew the 'canali' as hard, linear features in the same way that Lowell subsequently did.

[russ]

Me too. I did PM Steve a few days ago but no reply as of yet.

Can one of you guys post a pic of your focuser? I've searched the web but cannot find a decent pic that shows it. I'll be able to say for definite if i can see it........i 90% sure it can.

Russ

[Chris H]

We pass Mars on the 28/29th of Jan so make the most of it over the next couple of weeks because it rapidly shrinks in size during Feb and March.

I've had some excellent views at x300 with the 10 inch and at the moment it is very well placed in the sky.

[acharris77]

Hey Russ, here is a pic of the focuser of the 130p OTA:

[alfingido]

We pass Mars on the 28/29th of Jan so make the most of it over the next couple of weeks because it rapidly shrinks in size during Feb and March.

I've had some excellent views at x300 with the 10 inch and at the moment it is very well placed in the sky.

I tried last night with my 9.25. M42 was the best I had ever seen it so the seeing was very good, but Mars was just a very bright orange blob again!

I have only really seen the ice cap and a few dark marks a couple of times and that was about 3 years ago with an 8" Meade ( LX90)

I suppose a filter or two would bring out a bit of detail, what would be the best one to go for?

Allan

[michael.h.f.wilkinson]

I always feel M42 is good in dreadful seeing, unless you are trying to resolve the multiples inside it; Mars requires an order better. Lets keep our fingers crossed.

[russ]

Hey Russ, here is a pic of the focuser of the 130p OTA:

I can't see the pic unfortunately. Any chance you could try again.

Russ

[acharris77]

Sorry, dont know what happened, I had it showing last night. Here it is again:

Thanks.

[russ]

Well the bottom plate is certainly right to take the Autofocus. The only worry is how the wheel comes off and what the spindle looks like underneath. But if that's okay you can add the Autofocus.

[acharris77]

Thanks for that, below is a pic of the wheel removed. Easy to remove either hold with pilers or hold the one side and unscrew the other.

Thanks for looking and the advice.

[russ]

That's a different arrangement to the normal R&P, they have a tapered bit on the end of the focus wheel [shaft], which the wheel goes on and then screw holds it all together.

With the Autofocus a black flexi tube is pushed onto the focus wheel spindle and a grub screw locks it in place. That 130 shaft looks the same sort of size and the four screws underneath are definitely right. I'll measure the thickness of the usual R&P shaft and we'll compare it to the 130.

Russ

[russ]

Looking at it i'm pretty sure it will work. We'll just check the measurements to be on the safe side.

[acharris77]

Ok, I will measure the shaft with a piece of string and post back the size. Thanks agin.

[George Jones]

It was cloudy on Friday night, but the forecast called for clear skies after 1 am, so, before going to bed, I carried my scope down two-and-a-half flights of stairs to the car to cool, and I set my alarm. I got up, set up, and I started observing at 3 am. For my effort, I was rewarded with extraordinarily steady seeing. Saw polar cap and light and dark markings. Unfortunately (for this session), the maximum magnification that I can get is with my system is 254x, but the conditions would have allowed higher powers.

The previous time that I tried for Mars, the skies were clear when I carried my scope to the car, but, before the scope cooled down, clouds rolled in, and the next morning I carried my scope back up the stairs without observing anything.

Persistence paid off.

[russ]

Excellent stuff George. Mars being up high is really paying off when the seeing is steady.

Ant, I'll measure the shaft on the normal R&P and let you know tomorrow morning.

Russ

[acharris77]

Hi, the thread bit is about 2.4 cm and the shaft bit above the thread bit is sbout 3.1 cm thickness and 2.5 cm length. Thanks.

[Talitha]

A light fog can be indicative of a steady atmosphere, and planetary views can be very good indeed under such conditions.

Ron, the BEST view i've ever had of Mars was through fog so thick i couldn't see the planet naked-eye. If i hadn't been tracking it before the fogbank rolled up the hill, i'd have never been able to see it at all.

Lowell did a lot of sketches and became very obsessed with Mars but no one I think since has seen the sort of detail Lowell claimed to have seen.

IIRC, there was an article in Sky and Telescope magazine a while ago which said Lowell was actually seeing something in his own eye (optic nerves? blood vessels?)

[BrownClaw]

Just had a reply from Steve, thanks Steve!

The sad bit; the autofocuser will NOT fit the Skywatcher 130P

[acharris77]

I had the same reply, but I think the standard 130p comes with a 1.25 focuser, but the 130p Syncscan Alt Az goto version comes with a 2" rack and pinion focuser with a 1.25" adaptor, so we can use 2" eyepieces and 1.25" eyepieces.

[russ]

Don't give up just yet. Haven't had a chance to measure that shaft but will do soon.

Russ

[DannyL]

I actually remember the 18th century, used to know a german bloke with a big scope, William somebody...... well it feels like Ive been around that long.

Anyway, grabbed a quick look at mars last night through holes in the cloud with my new Skymax 127. bit fuzzy at first but over about 40min I began to see the polar cap and began to sense rather than really see darker markings. Then the thin edge of a passing cloud dimmed the image a bit and hey presto, bit of detail appeared.

Inspired, I tried using an LP filter, this also improved image contrast a little more then the clouds thickened up and that was that till God knows when.

The thing here is that I am not sure what was doing the business, was it the scope cooling down, I;d brought it straight out, no cool down period. Was the edge of the cloud improving the seeing, making it steadier? as well as reducing glare and hence improving contrast?

I realy dont know and was stopped from further enquiry by the clouds. Roll on clear skies....

[yesyes]

Herschel? ;-)

Last Sunday I tried my 25% Moon filter on Mars and it did look a lot better with much less glare. So I'd say the cloud did it for you. But it could have been a combination of several things.

Recently I've seen several posts on here saying that Mars looks better through thin cloud...

[BrownClaw]

Don't give up just yet. Haven't had a chance to measure that shaft but will do soon.

Russ

Thanks Russ Fingers crossed.