I'm pretty sure I saw Mars...

[ewomack]

A few people have warned me that seeing Mars does not compare to seeing Jupiter or Saturn, so I made my way outside a little after midnight on August 27th with lowered expectations. Stellarium showed Mars rising to the northeast, which, in my case, unfortunately meant that I had to deal with some very intense glaring lights from a building down the street. After staring for some time, my eyes must have finally adjusted and I swore that I saw a tiny reddish dot just over a "no U-Turn" traffic sign. In my 25x70 binoculars, the dot did have a slight reddish tint to it, but not strong. More than that, it had that unmistakable "I'm a planet" glow. Apart from it being where Stellarium expected it to be and the glow, I didn't really know how else to verify that I did in fact see Mars. Sadly, clouds hung in the sky not too far over the object, so I could not determine if the Pleiades hovered overhead or not, which probably would have confirmed it. Since Mars has no rings or visible moons, I didn't know how to verify that I actually saw it. Capella sat much higher in the sky further to the north, not obscured by clouds, and it looked and glowed more like a star, so I don't think that I accidentally saw Capella. So, given that, I'm going to say that I likely did see the red planet. If any further viewings contradict what I saw that night, then I'll take it back. But I'm at least 90% - 95% sure that I saw Mars.

Though far less interesting than Jupiter or Saturn, I made a sketch anyway. And I did manage to capture the object with my mobile phone through the binoculars. It doesn't seem to deny or confirm its identity, but it's something, at least.

Mars.JPG (20.33 KiB) Viewed 424 times

Whether I saw Mars or not (though I think I did), I still enjoyed the hunt.

[davesellars]

Try it again the next night it's clear with Pleiades a guide to its position to confirm

Do you have the binoculars on a tripod or support?

[Bigzmey]

Mars does have tiny orange disk appearance in binoculars, while stars look like dots. To confirm find two-three bright stars in the sky and see if relative position of Mars matches that in Stellarium.

[jrkirkham]

Thanks for the report. It does seem like you might have seen Mars. Aldebaran was also in the area and low in the sky, but it does sound like Mars. Another night viewing would confirm it.