129 replies to this topic

[payner]

Outstanding rendering of your Mars observation, Rutilus.

[Cpk133]

Are we seeing the true North polar ice cap at the moment?  Below is a drawing I made of my last observation on

the 6th Dec. Made with a 6 inch f/8 refractor fitted with bino-viewers. The seeing conditions were only Pickering 4,

but it was possible to see some markings.

 

To me, the white brightening at the North polar region resembled the North polar hood rather than the northern ice cap.  

Of note was a bright yellowish semi-circle extending from the following limb into the disk of Mars.  Was this dust or 

just a very bright western section of the Tharsis region?

 

"Does Mars have two ice caps you can view or is it just the one?"  - Mars does have a Southern polar ice cap,

which can be observed when it is facing us, but at the moment only the Northern polar region is sunlit.

I was out last night around 05:00 UT 12-9-24 with an 80ed under poor seeing and used from 150-200x to eek out what I could.  The most conspicuous feature was either the North Polar Hood or ice cap with a dark border directly below.  Due to my use of 80mm and poor seeing, i couldn’t tell if it was the hood or cap itself visually, but it was so large I’m thinking it’s the hood.  The cap will have a sharp boundary and the hood is diffuse.  There was some clear darker maria extending all the way to the south and I also picked up what i thought was limb haze / brightening along the mid to southern following limb.  I’d check out alpo-japan mars section to see if there are any images from when you observed:

 

http://alpo-j.sakura.ne.jp/indexE.htm

[Special Ed]

Rutilus, that is a great sketch and observational report.     Good report from Cpk133, too.

 

For new observers of Mars (or those who are shaking off the dust), it might be helpful to review Jeff Beish's page on the 2024-25 apparition

 

Quick summary--the northern hemisphere of Mars will be presented to our point of view through the apparition.  Northern spring has just begun so the North Polar Hood is starting to break up.  It will take a while for it to dissipate, but we might be getting glimpses of the cap now.

 

Knowing the areocentric longitude of the sun number (Ls) tells you how far northern spring has progressed.  0-90 degrees Ls is northern spring.  Today the Ls is about 14 degrees, so spring has just started.  Jeff has lots of charts and other useful info on his page.

 

Weather and seeing have been pretty rough at my location--hopefully it will ease up.

[Rutilus]

The cap will have a sharp boundary and the hood is diffuse.  There was some clear darker maria extending all the way to the south and I also picked up what i thought was limb haze / brightening along the mid to southern following limb.  I’d check out alpo-japan mars section to see if there are any images from when you observed:

 

Yes, in the past I've seen the true ice cap as having a sharp boundary which makes it appear differently from the view

of the hood. I also observed some limb brightening on the following limb, starting at the mid section and running down to the south.

[thedude_01]

Since the opposition happens during the full moon, would the best time to view Mars be actually now during the new moon phase or after the full moon phase of January?

[payner]

Any opportunity you have to observe Mars is a good one, as 'seeing' is the critical atmospheric quality when observing the planets.

[Rick Runcie]

The particular phase of the moon has little to no effect on observing the brighter planets. It sometimes can be beneficial to observe in a brighter sky unless the moon is so close to it as to create a glare.

Richard

[ButterFly]

Since the opposition happens during the full moon, would the best time to view Mars be actually now during the new moon phase or after the full moon phase of January?

Full moon generally has no impact on planets.  However, during this particular full moon, Mars will be behind the Moon for observers in the US and Western Africa, so the Moon will indeed "get in the way".

 

Lunar occultation of Mars

[Galaxy Gazer]

Lots of white, gold and red lights last night across the stars, but the most beautiful of them all were Jupiter, Saturn and Mars.

[epee]

Any opportunity you have to observe Mars is a good one, as 'seeing' is the critical atmospheric quality when observing the planets.

...and the seeing in my locale has been consistently abismal. 

[payner]

...and the seeing in my locale has been consistently abismal. 

... the last couple of weeks have mostly been cloudy

[mightymartin]

I observed Mars yesterday from the balcony with my 70/420 ED. Magnification 127x with TOE 3.3. Saw polar cap in the upper right, dark albedo surrounding it. Chryse as big triangular bright surface feature sandwiched between Mare Acidalium and Mare Erythraeum. Slight purple halo in the fpl51 f6 refractor.

[Dave Mitsky]

Mars was still rather low in the sky and with mediocre seeing and a mostly cloudy sky the circumstances were not good but I did manage to observe it on Tuesday night with the Naylor Observatory’s 17” f/15 classical Cassegrain at magnifications of 116, 170, 202, and 324x.

Unfortunately, I was unable to discern any surface features.

[RTLR 12]

I have had some fairly good viewing conditions here over the passed few weeks. I got out last night/this morning and got some quality time viewing Mars at almost zenith. Seeing conditions were not ideal, but I did get some great detailed views with my FC100DZ with the TOA 1.6x extender. Using my Delos 4.5 at 284x gave me some good detail in surface features overall. Looking for improved conditions in the nights to come.

 

Stan

[Oldfracguy]

I observed Mars yesterday from the balcony with my 70/420 ED. Magnification 127x with TOE 3.3. Saw polar cap in the upper right, dark albedo surrounding it. Chryse as big triangular bright surface feature sandwiched between Mare Acidalium and Mare Erythraeum. Slight purple halo in the fpl51 f6 refractor.

That is pretty impessive for a 70 mm scope.  What model do you have?  In the U.S. we have the Astro-Tech AT70ED, and that one has a regular FK-61 ED glass objective.  Is yours the TS-Optics version of the same Kunming United Optics-made 70/420 ED refractor:

 

https://www.teleskop...ap-focuser-1151

Edited by Oldfracguy, 03 January 2025 - 06:26 PM.

[davidc135]

Fine seeing at midnight gave a steady image even at x400 in the 8.5'' f7.5 Dob but x215 was more contrasty. The northern hood(?) was well defined with a dark edge whilst Mares acidalium, erythraeum and sirenum showed distinctly.

 

I thought it was going to be waste of time but glad I went out. Mars was very bright at x215, x280 might have been optimum.

 

David

Edited by davidc135, 03 January 2025 - 07:42 PM.

[mightymartin]

That is pretty impessive for a 70 mm scope.  What model do you have?  In the U.S. we have the Astro-Tech AT70ED, and that one has a regular FK-61 ED glass objective.  Is yours the TS-Optics version of the same Kunming United Optics-made 70/420 ED refractor:

 

https://www.teleskop...ap-focuser-1151

 

I use the LS60MT in its configuration as 70/420. Suppose it is the SVbony 70 503. But I am not sure.

 

 

[Oldfracguy]

I use the LS60MT in its configuration as 70/420. Suppose it is the SVbony 70 503. But I am not sure.

 

 

20250103_154839.jpg

It is definitely not an SvBONY SV503 70/420  :

 

https://www.firstlig...-night-sky.html

[Cpk133]

I’ve been nothing but clouds for some time and missed the one good night last week.  The forecast for the Mars Moon occultation is partly cloudy so there’s a chance, fingers crossed.  

Edited by Cpk133, 04 January 2025 - 10:34 PM.

[BradBB]

Many of you are lucky in your observing conditions. I am new to the hobby in central NC and the best astronomy forecast I have seen in five years was "average" seeing. Most times I observe are rated "poor". I do the best I can, seldom more than 100x to 150x.

[RTLR 12]

Many of you are lucky in your observing conditions. I am new to the hobby in central NC and the best astronomy forecast I have seen in five years was "average" seeing. Most times I observe are rated "poor". I do the best I can, seldom more than 100x to 150x.

Brad,

 

I now live in a place where it only rains 25 or 30 days a year. We have between 200 and 250 totally clear nights a year. I moved here from the Pacific Northwest where it was normal that you didn't see the sky for months at a time. You learn to take the nights and the conditions that you can get and appreciate the good ones although they may be few and far between. My nights here are many and much better than the place that I left, but I have some great memories of some great nights viewing in the Pacific Northwest.

 

Enjoy every night that you get under the stars Brad. I've never had a bad one myself.

 

Stan

[deSitter]

Many of you are lucky in your observing conditions. I am new to the hobby in central NC and the best astronomy forecast I have seen in five years was "average" seeing. Most times I observe are rated "poor". I do the best I can, seldom more than 100x to 150x.

Yes the mountains are pretty but they sure tear at the air!

 

-drl

[BobSoltys]

Thank you for sharing your beautiful drawing, Rutilus. 

[BobSoltys]

After a couple of weeks of cloudy skies, Mars ruled the Western sky this morning as I walked Nitro the JRT mix. 

 

Mars presented a very nice red-orange disk at 40x, with some details visible at 120x.

 

As gusty winds shook the scope and mount, I wasn't able to make a very detailed drawing. 

 

Mars the canary has been happily singing about it since 0630.

Attached Thumbnails

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Edited by BobSoltys, 09 January 2025 - 08:58 AM.

[Corcaroli78]

I had a very good night with excellent sky conditions for this time of the year. No wind and the temperature was acceptable  at -2 Celsius.

 

I set my Zeiss Telementor (63 mm 840 mm FL) and I pointed to Mars with an Hyperion 21 mm (40x) as finder. Mars appeared as a red orb, with very clearly defined edges. Instead of using other fixed Fl eyepieces, i tested my Svbony 3-8 mm zoom. It provided magnifications from 105x to 280x. the best image was achieved at 4 mm (210x). Mars was showing details in the disk: a triangular dark region in one half of the disk and a slightly bright area on the pole.   I need to check what i saw in the telescope because i am not sure if the dark area was Syrtis major or Aurora Sinus.

 

Motivated by the good sky conditions, i tested the zoom with my GSO barlow. in this case the best possible view before severe degradation was around 350x which is a lot for a 63 mm aperture (Zeiss or not Zeiss). It was just a mere test to see the capabilities of the whole setup. 

 

Overall, i had one of the best Mars observations in the last decade. Mars is not the most friendly planet to me as it has not been well placed for my location and i still have the good views through my 6 inch reflector around 2005.  Usually has been low in the sky, good for binoculars, but bad at the telescope. This year looks much more promising. 

 

Tonight, if weather allows, i will observe it with an Intes 150/1500 Mak. i hope to have a better identification of the details.

 

Thanks for reading! 

Carlos

Edited by Corcaroli78, 10 January 2025 - 09:00 AM.