--- Chuck Hards <chuckhards@yahoo.com> wrote:
The sky miraculously cleared up Friday night, so I set-up the 6" and watched Mars until 2 am. I am posting this before bed, while still clear in my mind. <snip> I didn't check a Website to make sure, but it appeared that Meridiani Sinus was just about dead-center and very obvious, with Syrtis Major on the limb- . . .
I took a short-term fair-use screen grab from the S&T web-applet at - http://skyandtelescope.com/observing/objects/planets/article_997_1.asp that shows Mars main features on 10/30/05 at 7:00 UTC (10/31/05 1:00AM) in an inverted Newtonian view, and short-term posted it at - http://members.csolutions.net/fisherka/astronote/observed/20051030_7UTC_Mars... Last night, looking at Mars between 1:00-2:00am, in a club loaner 6" DOB, I had moderate Antonaidi III seeing, with fuzzy views from SLC (at 4,200ft), of the main albedo areas of Syrtis Major, the north polar cap, Sinus Meridiani and Mare Acidalium. All in all, an enjoyable hour before bed. The satellite image loop - http://www.weather.gov/sat_loop12.php and CONUS sky cover simulator loop - http://www.weather.gov/forecasts/graphical/sectors/conusLoop.php#tabs looks problematic for tonight, but still worth sticking your head out the door at midnight to check conditions. The NOAA Conus area simulator does show clouds clearing out on Sunday-night Monday-morning between 11pm-2:00am. - Canopus56(Kurt) __________________________________ Yahoo! Mail - PC Magazine Editors' Choice 2005 http://mail.yahoo.com