Mars at opposition.

[John Baars]

I thought that it was the right moment to sketch Mars while in opposition.
The sketch was made from the backyard while looking through a 140mm OMC140 f/14.3 with magnifications of 140X and 180X. I placed my old Maksutov on the GrabnGo Alt/Az mount. Let it cool for one hour. Observers with bigger instruments observed orographic clouds above Olympus Mons at almost the same time as well.( in the top-right quadrant) I am afraid the OMC is a bit too small for that. Seeing was rather good. I made a first sketch at the eyepiece and sketched the final one this morning at coffee. The image is North up and mirror-reversed.
Thanks for watching.

[Lady Fraktor]

Very nice observation John

[Unitron48]

Nice observation, John! Great sketch.

Dave

[messier 111]

fine sketch , thx .

[Bigzmey]

Nice sketch John! I have yet to see Olympus Mons.

[Juno16]

Very nice sketch John!

I am in awe of folks that sketch what they see in the eyepiece. What a fine way to really examine an object in fine details. Thanks!

[John Baars]

Nice sketch John! I have yet to see Olympus Mons.

Thanks!

Some of the big volcano's on Mars were seen with the big refractors in the nineteenth century. It is possible to see them with smaller instruments if orographic clouds hang above the volcano. In that case a small white spot is seen. One doesn't actually see the volcano itself however. In 2012 I saw such a white spot on Mars with the 14 inch SCT of the public observatory I belong too. My Co-observator and I found out later that it was Elysium Mons.

During the 2020 Mars opposition, I was hunting for it from my backyard. I got lucky once during those many attempts with my 120mm apo refractor. It turned out to be possible, but it was at the limit. Attached is a sketch of that observation. With the OMC140, judging by the contrast difference I see with the 120mm refractor, this would have been impossible.

Mars Olympus Mons 16-10-2020 (340x318).jpg (34.74 KiB) Viewed 1066 times

[John Baars]

Very nice observation John

Thanks, I did my best

Nice observation, John! Great sketch.

Dave

Thanks, given the great seeing I had wished I'd done the observation with my refractor.( more contrast-power)

fine sketch , thx .

Thanks for the compliment.

Very nice sketch John!

I am in awe of folks that sketch what they see in the eyepiece. What a fine way to really examine an object in fine details. Thanks!

Thanks, making the final sketch costs more time than the observation itself!! Even the sketch at the telescope costs less time (no color etc) The nice thing about the end-result of a sketch that it is an add-up of moments of good seeing. Moreover the sketcher is free to add more contrast to details

[Bigzmey]

Nice sketch John! I have yet to see Olympus Mons.

Thanks!

Some of the big volcano's on Mars were seen with the big refractors in the nineteenth century. It is possible to see them with smaller instruments if orographic clouds hang above the volcano. In that case a small white spot is seen. One doesn't actually see the volcano itself however. In 2012 I saw such a white spot on Mars with the 14 inch SCT of the public observatory I belong too. My Co-observator and I found out later that it was Elysium Mons.

During the 2020 Mars opposition, I was hunting for it from my backyard. I got lucky once during those many attempts with my 120mm apo refractor. It turned out to be possible, but it was at the limit. Attached is a sketch of that observation. With the OMC140, judging by the contrast difference I see with the 120mm refractor, this would have been impossible.

Mars Olympus Mons 16-10-2020 (340x318).jpg

Thanks for clarification John. I read (on AF I believe) that it should be doable with small scopes, but all my attempts failed. Having clouds to enhance visibility makes sense.

[helicon]

Wow, just a fabulous sketch John through your 140mm scope. You caught the detail on the left side of the planet which presently is a bit more noticeable than other times. Certainly a report which is worthy of today's VROD!

[Makuser]

Hi John. Very nice sketch work of the Mars opposition. I enjoyed both the latest sketch using your 140mm Mak and also the older sketch using your 120mm apo refractor. Thanks for sharing these with us on here John and congratulations on receiving the well deserved TSS VROD Award today.

[John Baars]

Thanks for the VROD! I didn't see that coming

[John Baars]

I like getting the VROD so much that I thought it appropriate to just add a bonus. The sketch of 10-16-20, the color version. As you can see I didn't use a paper stump at the time. It makes the dark areas flow better. The white spot had not much contrast with its surroundings, in the sketch it was enhanced for visibility.

[AstroBee]

Excellent sketch John. Congrats.

[Unitron48]

Congrats on your VROD recognition, John! Great color sketch!!

Dave