Mars Evening of January 31.Posted By Rick Wiseman |
Jim,
Great evening last night for viewing Mars. I observed about 100 miles north of you in western Ohio. I had my 8" Dob out too, and the seeing was much better than the few (very cold) clear nights earlier.
I was able to use a 7.5mm eyepiece with a 2x Barlow to get 320x. This made Mars appear about twice the size of the moon, which was not far away. As you described, the polar icecap was visible all the time, even when the seeing got mushy. During a few moments of great seeing the planet was covered with little details, better than I ever saw before.
Dave, Mars was rotated a bit from your photos, the surface features were nearer to the meridian of the disk. I don't know if your photo was taken at an earlier or later time as Mars rotates.
I did not notice clouds, I don't have enough observing time on Mars to recognize clouds if they were there. This is my third opposition for Mars, like you.
Rick
Great evening last night for viewing Mars. I observed about 100 miles north of you in western Ohio. I had my 8" Dob out too, and the seeing was much better than the few (very cold) clear nights earlier.
I was able to use a 7.5mm eyepiece with a 2x Barlow to get 320x. This made Mars appear about twice the size of the moon, which was not far away. As you described, the polar icecap was visible all the time, even when the seeing got mushy. During a few moments of great seeing the planet was covered with little details, better than I ever saw before.
Dave, Mars was rotated a bit from your photos, the surface features were nearer to the meridian of the disk. I don't know if your photo was taken at an earlier or later time as Mars rotates.
I did not notice clouds, I don't have enough observing time on Mars to recognize clouds if they were there. This is my third opposition for Mars, like you.
Rick
