Moon and Mars-actually saw some details!

[sgazer]

I've not been successful imaging Mars in the past to I thought I'd take a look at it instead. Last night was mixed cloud, so I wasn't expecting too much. I used my Celestron C8 SCT with a 20mm (Parks Gold - Thanks Rob) eyepiece with a 2" 2x ED barlow screwed into the scope side of the diagonal (I think giving about 3x), overall magnification about 300x.

I started with the moon which was pretty impresive, beautifully clear and sharp Montes Apenninus mountains around Mare Imbrium and some lovely tiny craters and small valleys everywhere.

As the moon was looking good, I thought I'd give Mars a try. Initially it looked like the usual small orange blob, but as I looked for longer, I could see the dark bands at the top and bottom, with a definately white cap at the top. Looking at other peoples' recent images of Mars, I confirmed these details were real and not just my imagination! At last I'd seen some details on Mars, so I'm very pleased with this. It's a shame it's so small now and I've not had any luck with imaging it.

I keep toying with the idea of getting rid of the C8, particularly as I mainly do DSO imaging with a C80-ED refractor. However, with correct collimation, it does seem to work quite well on the moon and planets with its long focal length, so I keep talking myself into keeping it!

[DarkerSky]

Sounds like a good night for you on the visual front

[lunator]

sgazer

Congrats on seeing the detail on Mars.

Mars does reward patience. The more you look the more you see

Cheers

Ian