Mars (10-30-20)

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terrynak
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Mars (10-30-20)

#1

Post by terrynak »


Last night I went out and tested the seeing conditions with my 70mm ‘frac on the planets, which turned out to be good compared to earlier in the week, when the weather suddenly got colder.

So thinking that seeing would also be good tonight, I brought out the 150mm F/8 Newt again:

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The seeing indeed improved for the better. Now that Mars is showing a new face different from earlier in the month, I was looking forward to tonight's observation. The following features were in view (between 8:30 – 10:00 PM) using magnifications of 190x, 200x, 286x, and 300x. all dark albedo areas:
  • Mare Erythraeum
  • Aurorae Sinus
  • Solis Lacus
  • Valles Marineris – evident through the dark albedo feature outlining the valley/canyon.
  • Mare Sirenum – partial view, as it is just revealing itself
Was also able to see the South Polar Cap (much brighter than before), and a sliver of the North Polar Hood.

After midnight, the Mare Sirenum should be fully in view – didn’t want to stay up that late. I’ll save it for another night.
Scopes: Reflectors, refractors, and 1 catadioptric. Ranging in aperture from 50mm to 150mm.
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Re: Mars (10-30-20)

#2

Post by Peter802 »


A sweet session Terry.
Thanks for the morning read.
Clear Skies.
Regards,

Peter
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Re: Mars (10-30-20)

#3

Post by Greenman »


Nice viewing Terry, thanks for the report.
Cheers,

Tony.

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Smart Scope: Dwarf II - Club and outreach work.

AP Refractor: Altair 72EDF Deluxe F6;1x & 0.8 Flatteners; Antares Versascope 60mm finder. ASIAir Pro.Li battery pack for grab & go.

Celestron AVX Mount; X-cel LX eyepieces & Barlows 2x 3x, ZWO 2” Filter holder,

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Filters: Astronomik IR cut; Optolong L-Pro; Optolong L-Enhance.

Binoculars: Celestron 15 x 70.

Latitude: 52.219853
Longitude: -1.034471
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Re: Mars (10-30-20)

#4

Post by helicon »


Nice session Terry and some excellent observations of the red planet. Congrats.
-Michael
Refractors: ES AR152 f/6.5 Achromat on Twilight II, Celestron 102mm XLT f/9.8 on Celestron Heavy Duty Alt Az mount, KOWA 90mm spotting scope
Binoculars: Celestron SkyMaster 15x70, Bushnell 10x50
Eyepieces: Various, GSO Superview, 9mm Plossl, Celestron 25mm Plossl
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Naked Eye: Two Eyeballs
Latitude: 48.7229° N
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Re: Mars (10-30-20)

#5

Post by John Baars »


terrynak wrote: Sat Oct 31, 2020 6:11 am Valles Marineris – evident through the dark albedo feature outlining the valley/canyon.
What a great observation! A difficult and very seldom seen detail of Mars!
I have never seen this. Congratulations!

The 150/8 is an awesome planetary instrument, they'd call it "planetkillers" some years ago. Never get rid of it!
Refractors in frequency of use : *SW Evostar 120ED F/7.5 (all round ), * Vixen 102ED F/9 (vintage), both on Vixen GPDX.
GrabnGo on Alt/AZ : *SW Startravel 102 F/5 refractor( widefield, Sun, push-to), *OMC140 Maksutov F/14.3 ( planets).
Most used Eyepieces: *Panoptic 24, *Morpheus 14, *Leica ASPH zoom, *Zeiss barlow, *Pentax XO5.
Commonly used bino's : *Jena 10X50 , * Canon 10X30 IS, *Swarovski Habicht 7X42, * Celestron 15X70, *Kasai 2.3X40
Rijswijk Public Observatory: * Astro-Physics Starfire 130 f/8, * 6 inch Newton, * C9.25, * Meade 14 inch LX600 ACF, *Lunt.
Amateur astronomer since 1970.
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Re: Mars (10-30-20)

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Post by Makuser »


Hello Terry. Another great report in a series of reports from you here. This time you brought out the "big gun" telescope. Lots of interesting Mars surface details observed in your report. Thanks for your latest fun read report Terry, and keep looking up.
Marshall
Sky-Watcher 90mm f/13.8 Maksutov-Cassegrain on motorized Multimount
Orion Astroview 120ST f/5 Refractor on EQ3 mount
Celestron Comet Catcher 140mm f/3.64 Schmidt-Newtonian on alt-az mount
Celestron Omni XLT150R f/5 Refractor on CG4 mount with dual axis drives.
Orion 180mm f/15 Maksutov-Cassegrain on CG5-GT Goto mount.
Orion XT12i 12" f/4.9 Dobsonian Intelliscope.
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Re: Mars (10-30-20)

#7

Post by terrynak »


Peter802 wrote: Sat Oct 31, 2020 9:15 am A sweet session Terry.
Thanks for the morning read.

Thanks, you're welcome Peter!

Greenman wrote: Sat Oct 31, 2020 10:25 am Nice viewing Terry, thanks for the report.

Thanks, you're welcome Tony!

helicon wrote: Sat Oct 31, 2020 2:22 pm Nice session Terry and some excellent observations of the red planet. Congrats.

Thanks Michael - fortunately the seeing has improved since the evenings got cooler...

John Baars wrote: Sat Oct 31, 2020 4:59 pm
terrynak wrote: Sat Oct 31, 2020 6:11 am Valles Marineris – evident through the dark albedo feature outlining the valley/canyon.
What a great observation! A difficult and very seldom seen detail of Mars!
I have never seen this. Congratulations!

The 150/8 is an awesome planetary instrument, they'd call it "planetkillers" some years ago. Never get rid of it!

Thanks John! I was able to identify Valles Marineris by the dark albedo strip.

I was fortunate to pick up the Bresser Messier NT150 OTA. In the U.S., 150mm F/8 Newts are only sold on a Dob mount. Bresser Messier models are not distributed in the U.S., but a domestic seller managed to get a hold of a few of these OTAs. Won't get rid of it!

Makuser wrote: Sat Oct 31, 2020 7:44 pm Hello Terry. Another great report in a series of reports from you here. This time you brought out the "big gun" telescope. Lots of interesting Mars surface details observed in your report. Thanks for your latest fun read report Terry, and keep looking up.

Thanks Marshall - hope to spot a few more new Martian features in the coming days/weeks.

This "big gun" is my lifetime scope, don't plan on getting anything bigger, since this is the largest size scope I can transport to darker skies (without my own car).
Scopes: Reflectors, refractors, and 1 catadioptric. Ranging in aperture from 50mm to 150mm.
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Re: Mars (10-30-20)

#8

Post by Bigzmey »


Pulling out the big guns Terry! :) Coincidently, I wanted to try my 6" SCT on Mars tonight, but with time change and some home choirs did not get to it. Maybe tomorrow. :)
Scopes: Stellarvue: SV102ED; Celestron: 9.25" EdgeHD, 8" SCT, 150ST, Onyx 80ED; iOptron: Hankmeister 6" Mak; SW: 7" Mak; Meade: 80ST.
Mounts: SW: SkyTee2, AzGTi; iOptron: AZMP; ES: Twilight I; Bresser: EXOS2; UA: MicroStar.
Binos: APM: 100-90 APO; Canon: IS 15x50; Orion: Binoviewer, LG II 15x70, WV 10x50, Nikon: AE 16x50, 10x50, 8x40.
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Filters: Lumicon: DeepSky, UHC, OIII, H-beta; Baader: Moon & SkyGlow, Contrast Booster, UHC-S, 6-color set; Astronomik: UHC.

Observing: DSOs: 3106 (Completed: Messier, Herschel 1, 2, 3. In progress: H2,500: 2180, S110: 77). Doubles: 2382, Comets: 34, Asteroids: 255
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Re: Mars (10-30-20)

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Post by Ylem »


Gotta love an f8 Newt :)
Clear Skies,
-Jeff :telescopewink:


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Re: Mars (10-30-20)

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Post by terrynak »


Bigzmey wrote: Mon Nov 02, 2020 2:20 am Pulling out the big guns Terry! :) Coincidently, I wanted to try my 6" SCT on Mars tonight, but with time change and some home choirs did not get to it. Maybe tomorrow. :)

Andrey, hopefully you can do more Martian observing from home, if the seeing there allows. Still need to read your Anza Mars report...

Ylem wrote: Mon Nov 02, 2020 2:30 am Gotta love an f8 Newt :)

Yes, especially on an EQ mount, which is very rare to see nowadays (usually on a Dob mount).
Scopes: Reflectors, refractors, and 1 catadioptric. Ranging in aperture from 50mm to 150mm.
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Re: Mars (10-30-20)

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Post by helicon »


Congratulations Terry on winning the TSS Visual Report of the Day for your observation of Mars last Fall, showing how much one can view through a 6" Newtonian.
-Michael
Refractors: ES AR152 f/6.5 Achromat on Twilight II, Celestron 102mm XLT f/9.8 on Celestron Heavy Duty Alt Az mount, KOWA 90mm spotting scope
Binoculars: Celestron SkyMaster 15x70, Bushnell 10x50
Eyepieces: Various, GSO Superview, 9mm Plossl, Celestron 25mm Plossl
Camera: ZWO ASI 120
Naked Eye: Two Eyeballs
Latitude: 48.7229° N
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Re: Mars (10-30-20)

#12

Post by turboscrew »


Wow, 300x! It must have been a good weather!
I wish, one day I could see similar details of Mars!
Quite earned VROD! Congrats!
- Juha

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Re: Mars (10-30-20)

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Post by John Baars »


Congratulations on the VROD!
Refractors in frequency of use : *SW Evostar 120ED F/7.5 (all round ), * Vixen 102ED F/9 (vintage), both on Vixen GPDX.
GrabnGo on Alt/AZ : *SW Startravel 102 F/5 refractor( widefield, Sun, push-to), *OMC140 Maksutov F/14.3 ( planets).
Most used Eyepieces: *Panoptic 24, *Morpheus 14, *Leica ASPH zoom, *Zeiss barlow, *Pentax XO5.
Commonly used bino's : *Jena 10X50 , * Canon 10X30 IS, *Swarovski Habicht 7X42, * Celestron 15X70, *Kasai 2.3X40
Rijswijk Public Observatory: * Astro-Physics Starfire 130 f/8, * 6 inch Newton, * C9.25, * Meade 14 inch LX600 ACF, *Lunt.
Amateur astronomer since 1970.
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Re: Mars (10-30-20)

#14

Post by MistrBadgr »


Congratulations, Terry! :)
Enjoyed your report and envy you your scope, which does not seem to be made any more in a form for an equatorial mount. :(
Bill Steen
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Re: Mars (10-30-20)

#15

Post by Unitron48 »


Great report, Terry...and congrats on the VROD! Well deserved!!

Dave
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http://www.unitronhistory.com

"Look deep into nature, and then you will understand everything better." Albert Einstein
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