Mars is good tonight

[solarwallace]

Well I've been in despair all week at the cloud in the sky but looking at the report this morning I thought I might get my chance at some sky.

Just been out with my 150 Explorer and then the cloud came over! Argh!

Went in and had my tea still feeling positive for some reason. Popped my head out of the window after tea and there it was again.

One x2 Barlow and a Baader 5mm Ortho later and woopee! Polar cap and dark y shaped shading. I also used an orange filter without which I can't see anything but a very bright disk.

Worth noting for those new to this like me that for several mintues or more it just looks like a fuzzy ball but then it will come clear for a while and just very occasionally you get a magic glimpse where everything clears up. This is quite confusing when you try a different eyepiece as you don't whether the eyepiece is at fault or the sky. Just takes patience I guess

The EQ3-2 mount really helps with the precision movements as I tried with my 130 dob last weekend and it was just too difficult to move with in small increments at high mag.

Well I've been waiting years for that view :-)

Cheers

Steve

[paulhereford]

Well done Steve......i'm very much a newbie to astronomy but have always had a healthy interest particularly when I was (much) younger.

I have now decided to purchase the Skywatcher Explorer 150P scope so it's good to hear your experiences when viewing Mars.

Paul

[F15Rules]

Well done Steve!. I've just been out myself having seen how clear it was here in the East Midlands - against all my expectations. One of the clearest nights for a while - and not too cold!

I turned my Celestron ED100 Apo refractor and my Pentax j80 80mm classic achromat on Mars and both scopes showed very clearly large polar cap and Syrtis major, a large dark V shaped mass.

I was able to get up to x280 with the Apo, I was using my Baader Orthos at 5, 6, 7 and 9mm...I barlowed the 7mm with my Televue Barlow to get up to the x280..main problem then is the speed of the image (undriven mount)!

I also looked at M42 in Orion as it was so clear, and to my delight I saw the E star in the Trapezium for the first time. The 4 main stars were a beautiful sharp sight and the nebula itself using averted vision clearly covered most of the field at x100.

Hope lots of you were able to enjoy the views tonight, all to infrequent lately!

[solarwallace]

(F15Rules) Yeah mine's undriven too. Mars zoom-zooms across the scope, but I want to learn my way around before I get any fancy nan-dango motor driven scope. Might have to add motors to get some photos with my DSLR at some point though. I meant to look at Orion but never got round to it. Might pop out again now and have a look

(PaulHereford) The Explorer was a lucky find for me. I just bought it off Ebay after 2 mins research. Taken me a while to understand it, but it's turned out to be great. To be honest, I just point it north and the latitude's set now anyway so I find that's a good enough polar alighnment.

Anyway, enjoy the Explorer. If you have any queries about it please feel free to ask me.

Regards

Steve

[lostinspace]

Well done Steve......i'm very much a newbie to astronomy but have always had a healthy interest particularly when I was (much) younger.

I have now decided to purchase the Skywatcher Explorer 150P scope so it's good to hear your experiences when viewing Mars.

Paul

hi paul, are you from hereford england? if so me too!!

[Steve_Max127]

I'm new to Astronomy and the forum, love the forum idea learn so much from others. I often look at mars and usually disappointed with a very small fuzzy bright disk, never seen the polar cap or any details so far. I will have to invest in a set of coloured filters and try again if the clouds ever clear and the fog lifts.

I guess some of the fuzzy views are down to the cheap eye pieces supplied with the scope, can someone recommend a reasonable lens and Barlow combination for visual viewing of the planets. I have the usual Skywatcher 25 and 10 mm plossl eyepiece set that comes with the scope and the deep sky accessory pack (30mm super plossl and 0.5 focal reducer).

[solarwallace]

Hi Steve_Max127.

You might be better off starting a new thread? What mags are you viewing Mars at? I've find (with my limited experience) that you need over 200x to really see any details at all with good clear seeing. I think others have said similar things elsewhere.

Cheers

Steve

[darlingtonskies]

i have had Mars at 215 mag and could only see it the size of an (o) however waiting for the clear skies in darlington so i can look through my new 3x barlow lens. should give mag of 270 which is just about potential for my scope.

I am so addicted to astronomy now. feel like im having withdrawal symptoms.