CN FORUMS ARCHIVE Telescope Reviews: Mars .... WOW

WOW. Was out late Monday night being mesmerized by Mars. This was the first time I got a really great view, without the image swimming in air currents. Heep got a little taste of what you hotshots with your big Trussed-up Johnsons with Zamboni mirrors or Apothecary Retractors can see.

This isn't a formal observing report. I only saw two objects from my light-strewn back yard, M13 and Mars. My equipment is Heep ('umble 4.5" f/8, dept. store Newtonian on rickety EQ1 mount, fl. 900mm), 20mm 10mm and 6.7mm plossls.

M13 didn't look like much. With the 20mm (45X) it looked like a fuzzy bright ball, but perhaps a dozen edge stars were visible with averted vision through the 10mm (90X). I quickly abandoned plans for deep-sky viewing, as the conditions were (to say the least) less than optimal.

The real target was Mars. It was well up in the south by midnight local time (0400 UT) and I was glued to the EP for the next hour. Unlike other evenings, the atmospheric turbulence was minimal, the image was rock steady, and even with the 6.7mm EP (135X) the image did not break down. The SPC was very prominent, and was bordered by a thin dark gray edge. It appears to be getting smaller on successive evenings - or is that just my imagination? Other dark gray surface features were visible as well, mostly in the south, against a beautiful salmon-pink background. These included a long thick streak that crossed the surface of the planet from left to right; immediately underneath it was a round oval patch, near the eastern (leftmost) limb. I wanted to do a sketch, but have no scanner, so I couldn't post it.

But what an amazing sight. The disc was big as a beach ball in the EP, easily twice the size of a naked-eye full moon, and the image was bright and steady. I look forward to even better viewing as we catch up to and pass the red planet.

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Clear nights ... dark sites,
Darren