Mars at 470x

[themos]

Very good seeing in between clouds. My 12" Dob gave me a wonderful view of Mars at 470x with the TMB 3.2mm planetary eyepiece. Didn't have enough time to look for features, sadly, apart from the polar ice cap which was brilliantly defined.

[Doc]

I was looking at Mars as well last night with my 4 UWAN giving x457 mag and I agree the polar cap stood out really well, even though the planet was the brightest I've seen it in a while.

[russ]

I was looking last night too but didn't push as hard as that. It was a nice sharp disk at 332x in the Meade. Only the polar cap and some darker detail around the cap visible. There was a hint of something at the other pole and a glimpse of something white off to one side but that could have been my imagination. Wish i had pushed a little further now.

Russ

[themos]

I have a "hole" in my e/p focal lengths so can only jump from 166x to 470x, it's why I need a 6mm. Anyway, it turns out that at the time, Mars was showing its most boring face towards Earth: typical!

[russ]

Ah yes typical.

[John]

I was looking last night too but didn't push as hard as that. It was a nice sharp disk at 332x in the Meade. Only the polar cap and some darker detail around the cap visible. There was a hint of something at the other pole and a glimpse of something white off to one side but that could have been my imagination. Wish i had pushed a little further now.

Russ

Pretty much what I could see with my 10" OO newt last night Russ.

I'm reasured that I was not missing something exciting - pretty bland disk apart from the pole cap and surrounding darkening.

[Jarvo]

Glad I saw this thread.!! I was out last night with the 6" Mak - Cass and pumped up the power to 300x. All I saw was the polar cap. Did think it was my antique 6mm orthoscoopic eyepiece I bought when I was a lad but this thread has restored my faith in the eyepiece!!!!

Funny how some cloud cover can steady the imaging when looking at the planets.

Jarvo

[DarkerSky]

I was out too looking at Mars last night with my 16" LB. CM was 120 degrees - the 'boring' side most definately. That said my seeing was pretty good at times and I did pick up some subtle shading across the disc with my orange filter in place. Mag was x295.

This what I saw...my shading is slightly exagerrated

Definite areas of brightness on the eastern part of the disc towards the limb and over the south pole. There also seemed to be a brighter central area just west of centre. A darker patch was seen to the west, and a slightly darker 'band' parallel to the NPC, but above the NPC collar

[Spaced Cadet]

DarkerSky,

I was looking at Mars last night in my Televue 85, pushed to X200. What you sketched sums up what I saw. I could see the north polar cap very clear with a dark (bluish?) band around it, but nothing much else.

Is that dark band around the polar cap the polar hood, rather than a surface feature?

Also, why is it always when I look at Mars, it's the boring face that is visible?

[John]

....Also, why is it always when I look at Mars, it's the boring face that is visible?

It's the same "law" that causes Jupiter's great red spot to be on the opposite side of the planet when I try and observe it

[Spaced Cadet]

It's the same "law" that causes Jupiter's great red spot to be on the opposite side of the planet when I try and observe it

I've noticed that too!

[F15Rules]

Am glad I saw this thread...I had out last night my new Celestron C100EDR Apo scope alongside my Tal 5" achro, and the smaller scope gave slightly the sharper view, but no detail apart from a (quite large) polar cap..the rest was a rather vague, bland very orange disk.

I was disappointed to say the least. I've not observed Mars much in the past, and although I knew it would be no Jupiter, I had hoped to see more, and I just wondered if the scopes were at fault (I hoped not as one was brand new, the other a proven performer on Jupiter etc!), or if the seeing wasn't great..

..actually I thought the seeing was pretty good, maybe at least a 3 on the Antonadi scale? I had started the session with star testing the Celestron on Polaris...I got fabulous textbook images, NO colour in focus at ALL, and just for a laugh I TV barlowed my Baader Ortho 5mm - a magnification of x360! -an the image stood up clean and distinct -that's x90 per inch!

I then moved to M42 and had a beautiful view, loads of subtle detail and the Trap very sharp. No stars 5 & 6 this time though.

I thought the transparency of the sky last night was very good, and the seeing pretty good...what did you guys think?

[russ]

Definite areas of brightness on the eastern part of the disc towards the limb and over the south pole. There also seemed to be a brighter central area just west of centre. A darker patch was seen to the west, and a slightly darker 'band' parallel to the NPC, but above the NPC collar

Excellent news, i wasn't dreaming it. Just reassures me i did see a brightening on the eastern part of the disk.

Pretty much what I could see with my 10" OO newt last night Russ.

John, it's good that we are all more or less seeing the same......just a shame it's the same boring side!

Russ

[pvaz]

Same view here too. I was cursing the atmosphere 'cause I couldn't see anything else then the polar cap!

[DarkerSky]

Is that dark band around the polar cap the polar hood, rather than a surface feature?

As far as I understand it the dark collar is the polar hood cloud - so it is an atmospheric feature rather than a surface feature. I think (though not sure!) that it is a result of moisture lifting in the atmosphere to form cloud due to polar ice melt in the sunshine

[DarkerSky]

Russ - I know what you mean about re-assurance. When surface features are so vague it definately helps to hear that others have seen what you saw

[russ]

Russ - I know what you mean about re-assurance. When surface features are so vague it definately helps to hear that others have seen what you saw

Absolutely, especially with Mars where the detail is so subtle.