Mars, details, scope...

Hey folks,

Just curious as to what others are seeing at the eyepiece.
Looking at the following pictures, maybe you could list which picture represents about the level of detail your seeing, sharpness etc, and which scope your seeing it with.
The pictures go from 1-being exceptional to 6 being just noticing the dark areas.

For me,..
ETX 90- usually number 6
6 inch F5 usually number 6 but brighter than ETX
10 inch F5.6 anywhere from 5-6 but brighter of course.

Thanks!
Ron

Attached Image:

10 inch dob, f/4.7, excellent seeing #3, average seeing #4-#5

CGE1400, average seeing, #1, best view I have seen of Mars

Clear skies,

Tom

I've only looked at it once so far and it was about a 3 with the color of 1. 8" f/6 Discovery Dob.
Jason

8" C8, 300-500x, 2-3. When the seeing is excellent, 2, when it is average, 3. Actually, on some particularly bad nights, 4 or 5. I would say that under any seeing conditions, the color is much closer to 1 though nowhere near as sharp.

By the way, Michael, after mornings where you get your wife up to look at Mars does she keep shooting you dirty looks all day? If not, I'd definitely say a refractor is better than an SCT.

I used my 120mm f/5 refractor one morning (about 4:30 AM) from Michigan's UP.

It was like No. 6. Even my rich field yields a nice planetary view with a 15mm and a barlow. Not the best scope to use, but I'm setting up a permanent pier in my back yard for my 8" SCT (Meade LX50) in time for August.