Paul G
Post Laureate
Reged: 05/08/03
Posts: 4063
Loc: Freedonia
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Observed Deimos Sunday night and I logged it for a while, noted it in my very inept drawing and verified its position the next day. It was visible approx. 80% of the time with averted vision, 30% of the time with direct vision, with Mars near the center of the fov, no occulting device. I didn't bother to look for Phobos because I was convinced Deimos was just a faint backgroud star, assumed I couldn't see it without an occulting device. :-/ The fact that it moved relative to Mars should have been a hint, but the caffeine was wearing off. If seeing permits later this week I will seriously go after both moons.
Astro-Physics 10" Mak-Cass, Baader Mark V binoviewer, Zeiss Abbe orthos, best image sweet spot at around 290x initially, 460x later as seeing improved.
This was my first night out with the Baader Mark V's, and I was impressed with their excellent contrast and low scatter; otherwise the bright image of Mars in the fov would have washed out the dim moon.
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Gus
"Coffee leads men to trifle away their time, scald their chops, and spend their money, all for a little base, black, thick, nasty, bitter, stinking nauseous puddle water." ~The Women's Petition Against Coffee, 1674
If it ain't broke, fix it 'til it is.
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Pat G.
sage
Reged: 04/24/03
Posts: 394
Loc: Sunny Southern Ontario
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Hi Paul
At the Black Forest star party last week, I saw both Deimos and Phobos on either Weds 08/27/03 or Thur 08/28/03.
I had made an occulting eyepiece from an 18 mm Ortho following the instructions on the Sky & Telescope site. Couldn't find the moons with my 11" SCT so when I was doing a tour around the star party, I asked a few of the big Dob scope owners if we could try the eyepice.
We were able to spot both moons using a 25" Obsession (owned by Allan ??) and a 25" homemade scope equipped with a Pegasus mirror (owned by Jesse Denkmeier). In a smaller Dob (20" I think), we only saw Diemos. It could be that Phobos was hiding in a difraction spike at the time of viewing in the smaller scope.
At the time of viewing Deimos was about 3 to 4 Mars diameters out from the planet and Phobos was about 1 Mars diameter out. It was interesting to see how fast Phobos moved.
For me it was a treat to see. Sounds like you enjoyed it too.
Pat G.
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Patrick G
Celestron NS11 GPS
Tele Vue 102
Miyauchi 20x77 binos
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