[AZ-Observing] Mars Sunday night
- From: Jeff Hopkins <phxjeff@xxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: az-observing@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Sun, 7 Sep 2003 23:52:13 -0700
At long last I got some good views of Mars tonight with my 6"
refractor from my west Phoenix backyard. I got to try out my new
Celestron X-Cel 2.3 mm eyepiece. It produces 522 power with the 1200
mm refractor. I was able to see great deal (greater than before at
lower power) with it. During moments of atmospheric steadiness Syrtis
Major was very visible and the polar cap seems to have gotten smaller
still from Friday (probably my imagination). The wind was blowing the
tube around a bit, but only a minor annoyance (got to put up some
walls).
I tried various red filters, a moon filter and no filter. Surprising,
at times the moon filter seemed to work best. Other times the red
seemed to help a bit and still others more could be seen with no
filter. I spent a couple of hours on this and don't know why the
effect. It may just be me. I have yet to get a decent digital image.
Mars is not as easy an object as one might think. Totally unlike
Jupiter and Saturn.
While the dark sky star parties are great for the deep sky stuff (I
really like them) there is nothing like being able to just walk out
back for a few hours and then come back in and go to bed (after
putting the scope away). Also, having a platform and adjustable chair
so you can sit for hours comfortably really makes observing like this
enjoyable.
The joys of a backyard observatory. Alas, in Phoenix, only good for
bright objects.
Jeff
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Jeff Hopkins
HPO SOFT
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