Is anyone getting any surface detail on Mars when using a C-8 scope? I've tried 130 power 162 power and 285 power with no success...well maybe I can see just the slightest hint of color change at 162 At 285 it's just an orange blob. This was at 4:30 A.M. last Saturday from Southeast SLC. Barney B.
Barney, When seeing conditions are good you should be kicking the power up way past 285; Mars is one of the few objects that can handle a lot of magnification. When conditions are ideal you should be able to observe at well over 500x, and at the higher powers you should be able to see many surface details in an 8-inch scope. At the very least the south polar cap is readily visible in the 300x range (I was having pretty good luck at 317x Saturday morning with my scope in spite of a troublesome breeze). Also, if you have color filters, they can help tease out some of the surface features (green and blue help bring out the polar cap contrast; orange and red help bring out some of the surface features). We were seeing a fair amount of detail Saturday morning at Wolf Creek in Kim Hyatt's 5-inch refractor. All this assuming your C8's optics are properly collimated... -Rich --- "Barney B." <aaah@sisna.com> wrote:
Is anyone getting any surface detail on Mars when using a C-8 scope?
I've tried 130 power 162 power and 285 power with no success...well maybe I can see just the slightest hint of color change at 162 At 285 it's just an orange blob.
This was at 4:30 A.M. last Saturday from Southeast SLC.
Barney B.>
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Speaking of Wolf Creek, I had such horrible trouble trying to get going with my Meade (I now believe I understand how to do it, and should have better luck next time) that I didn't really observe anything on Thursday night-Friday morning. But I did glimpse Mars, about 3 a.m. Friday. At first I thought it was Jupiter, it was so huge and bright, then I remembered that Jupiter had set long before and this was easterly. Wow! I can't wait until it gets closer. Best, Joe PS: Thanks to those who helped me during a very trying time. You guys are the best. Joe Bauman science & military reporter Deseret News bau@desnews.com (801) 237-2169
Joe, What kind of problems were you having with "getting your Meade going" ??? Was it a GOTO scope with problems with set up and drive training? If so, I am having the same problems wiht my ETX-125 Mak and could use some pointers! Please let me know and maybe I can learn from your experience, or others. Thanks, Jim Joe Bauman <bau@desnews.com> wrote: Speaking of Wolf Creek, I had such horrible trouble trying to get going with my Meade (I now believe I understand how to do it, and should have better luck next time) that I didn't really observe anything on Thursday night-Friday morning. But I did glimpse Mars, about 3 a.m. Friday. At first I thought it was Jupiter, it was so huge and bright, then I remembered that Jupiter had set long before and this was easterly. Wow! I can't wait until it gets closer. Best, Joe PS: Thanks to those who helped me during a very trying time. You guys are the best. Joe Bauman science & military reporter Deseret News bau@desnews.com (801) 237-2169 _______________________________________________ Utah-Astronomy mailing list Utah-Astronomy@mailman.xmission.com http://mailman.xmission.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/utah-astronomy --------------------------------- Do you Yahoo!? SBC Yahoo! DSL - Now only $29.95 per month!
I saw Syrtis Major, the polar caps and a lot of detail on Mars in Kim Hyatt's Celestron 8" Ultima 2000 at Wolf Creek even at relatively low power (150X). In S.E. Salt Lake near the mountains the turbulence can be dreadful. If your image is stable check the collimation. Clear Skies Don Colton -----Original Message----- From: utah-astronomy-bounces@mailman.xmission.com [mailto:utah-astronomy-bounces@mailman.xmission.com]On Behalf Of Barney B. Sent: Monday, June 30, 2003 10:52 AM To: Utah-Astronomy@Lists.Xmission.Com Subject: [Utah-astronomy] Mars Is anyone getting any surface detail on Mars when using a C-8 scope? I've tried 130 power 162 power and 285 power with no success...well maybe I can see just the slightest hint of color change at 162 At 285 it's just an orange blob. This was at 4:30 A.M. last Saturday from Southeast SLC. Barney B.
I agree with Don. You should be able to see major albedo features in 6" scopes, even top-shelf 4" scopes this close to opposition. Seeing is always the limiting factor (and Martian dust storms), assuming proper collimation. Chuck --- "Don J. Colton" <djcolton@piol.com> wrote:
I saw Syrtis Major, the polar caps and a lot of detail on Mars in Kim Hyatt's Celestron 8" Ultima 2000 at Wolf Creek even at relatively low power (150X). In S.E. Salt Lake near the mountains the turbulence can be dreadful. If your image is stable check the collimation.
Clear Skies Don Colton -----Original Message----- From: utah-astronomy-bounces@mailman.xmission.com
[mailto:utah-astronomy-bounces@mailman.xmission.com]On
Behalf Of Barney B. Sent: Monday, June 30, 2003 10:52 AM To: Utah-Astronomy@Lists.Xmission.Com Subject: [Utah-astronomy] Mars
Is anyone getting any surface detail on Mars when using a C-8 scope?
I've tried 130 power 162 power and 285 power with no success...well maybe I can see just the slightest hint of color change at 162 At 285 it's just an orange blob.
This was at 4:30 A.M. last Saturday from Southeast SLC.
Barney B.
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participants (6)
-
Barney B. -
Chuck Hards -
Don J. Colton -
Jim Stitley -
Joe Bauman -
Richard Tenney