Posts Made By: Bruce Housey

It was clear this morning for a good but brief viewing of Mars; I woke up a little later than I intended, and my viewing was cut short by the onslaught of pre-dawn Lousiana mosquitoes. I did bring out a pad for sketching, but after a day's rain yesterday, the mosquitoes were vicious enough that I knew sketching wouldn't work. :^(

The attached picture shows Syrtis major near center. Above it near the south polar cap Hellas is still looking somewhat subdued; Libya to the left of Syrtis Major appeared brighter than Hellas.

The second attached picture shows Olympus Mons and two other Tharsis volcanoes from this morning. I spent some time this morning working at seeing them visually with assorted magnifications and filters, and was able to occasionally see a fleeting dark spot where Olympus Mons should have been. It was only seen without the filters.

Although I can not be sure it was the mountain itself and not some minor dark albedo feature nearby, I'd like to think it was Olympus itself. No visual sign of the other Tharsis volcanoes, but the whole plain had a "ripply" look to it instead of the flat featureless plain I typically see.

Mars is really getting big, bright, and high up! There was too much detail in the 8" f/7 this morning to name, with many small features popping in now and then during moments of excellent seeing. One thing I've noticed lately is that 200x to 300x is the best viewing power compared to 500x or more a few weeks ago, most likely because the disk of the planet is so large now at 24 arcseconds. The same held for taking pictures: while the 5x PowerMate did a clearly better job with the webcam a few weeks ago, a 2x Barlow is now about equal and makes for MUCH easier tracking of the planet (who wants to drift align a mount at 2am?!!).

I kept Mars pictures using both the 5x PowerMate and 2x Barlow as they both look nice in their own ways. The largest dark features are Mare Sirenum coming in from the upper left, followed by Mare Cimmerium across the center, forming the long point of Tritonis Sinus which was also clearly narrower in the eyepiece. Above it is Mare Tyrrenum and the bright Hellas basin hard to see on the upper right limb. Syrtis Major is slightly visible in the photographs at the center right limb but was very visible an hour later through the eyepiece; the smaller Syrtis Minor is distinct in the photos and eyepiece. The dark Propontis Complex at the bottom popped in and out with seeing.

Mars just doesn't get any better... it's immense size makes details visible in pretty much any telescope now. I pulled out my 70mm f/10 achromat and was able to see the polar cap and Mare Cimmerium clearly using an orange filter at 200x.

I spent a little time with the moon yesterday morning between Mars and Saturn, and took a few photos that I was just browsing through. The picture of Plato (attached) shows some really long shadows across the floor, and even more impressive shadow by Mons Pico below it. Also, the slumped portion of the wall on the "left" side of Plato is impressive in this light.

The wrinkle ridges in Frigoris and Imbrium also most impressive at this sun angle... they really look like waves in an extraterrestrial ocean.

Well, the big event is now upon us with the opposition coming at 4am wednesday morning. I spent a few hours last night looking at the Mare Erythraeum area and Solis Lacus (the "eye") last night. Although I was dripping after a while from the steamy hot night here in Louisiana, the seeing was superb. That's why you notice a long break between the second and third pictures... I couldn't take my eye off the eyepiece to put in the camera!

Even though Mars was only about 20 degrees above the horizon here in New Orleans, I couldn't resist getting an image when Mars was making it's closest pass. Image came out ok for the altitude.

Bruce.

Yes, I'm having fun with this opposition! (maybe too much) :^)

With all the talk about the "closest approach" wednesday morning, the opposition seems almost forgotten. Well, yesterday afternoon was the opposition so I celebrated the event by doing some viewing last night and taking a picture when the large Mare Erythraeum was centered on the meridian.

The Sinus Sabaeus/Meridiani "claw" is coming in from the left, and Solis Lacus is at the right with a better showing of Tithonius Lacus below it. Mars had a "silver lining" of limb haze reflections on both sides last night since the planet is right at opposition... a beautiful sight!

Near the bottom center is Niliacus Lacus with a nice showing of Nilokeras to it's right. Mare Acidalium is barely showing at the bottom center, covered by the hood forming over the north pole (which is out of sight at the bottom since it is turned away from us).

I sold my 8" f/7 here on AstroMart this week, so this is probably my last image through it. Last night was pleasantly cooler than recent nights, and the clouds cleared nicely after 11:00.

Although I didn't stay up late enough to see it clearly, there appears to be a white or yellow cloud to the "right" of Syrtis Major coming into view in the photos

Bruce.

Mare Orientale is one of the most impressive features on the moon, a tremendous multi-ring imact basin. Unfortunately it is right on the limb where we earth-bound observers can't appreciate it.

I managed to get a few pictures of it last week when the moon was in favorable libration - over 6 degrees - and put them together into one large picture. Then I stretched it in a way to simulate a perspective above it: the picture on the right shows the central basin at the left edge, with the two rings extending toward the right. Some dark lava can be seen filling the area between two of the rings at the bottom left.