Mars Evening of January 31.

Good evening all. The skies finally cleared in the Ohio river valley tonight, and I got the 8" dob out for a few hours.

Mars looked terrific. I could see the northern pole easily. I am about 80% sure I could see a few wisps of clouds. I used both a 15mm and 10mm eyepiece paired with a good 2x barlow and could see the same wisps with either combo.

My question is this: Did anybody else observe the red planet tonight? And if you did, did you see clouds?

This is the 3rd Mars opposition for me and, if I really did see clouds, it would be an exciting first for me.

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