Happy Halloween

Astronomy Discussion Forums

Forums: Atm · Astrophotography · Blackholes · Blackholes2 · CCD · Celestron · Domes · Education
Eyepieces · Meade · Misc. · God and Science · SETI · Software · UFO · XEphem
RSS Button

Home | Discussion Forums
Login

Be the first pioneers to continue the Astronomy Discussions at our new Astronomy meeting place...
The Space and Astronomy Agora
Observation Report On Mars And ...

Forum List | Follow Ups | Post Message | Back to Thread Topics | In Response To
Posted by Esteve on August 28, 2003 14:51:45 UTC

Hi everybody !

Despite the bad conditions we had yesterday, we couldn’t resist the Mars’ “attraction” and here it is the report.

Date : 2003-08-27
Time : from 21:00 till 23:00 UT

Environmental conditions :
No Moon
Medium light pollution
Warm wind and high humidity
Limit magnitude achieved at 20 degrees from the zenith : 11.4

Telescope : 203mm SCT

**************************

At first, for time spending purposes, we targeted two objects visually close to Sagitta constellation.

We got OCL 113 (a 40-star open cluster) and NGC 6853 (a planetary nebula). The weather conditions weren’t the best ones but we viewed both objects without trouble.

Afterwards, we focused on the main target of that night, Mars. We disassembled the LPR filter to preserve its colour balance and we prepared a set of Ultima series eyepieces and filters.

We started with a medium magnification factor (x163) and a neutral filter to reduce Mars’ brightness. We got a nice view and could even notice some dark areas.

We went up to x271 and then to x406, in both cases with the neutral filter. We must say that we achieved the best results with the x271 factor and the neutral filter.

We had no need to use colour filters to enhance Mars’ features. Despite the poor weather conditions and our viewing position (close to Barcelona) we had an impressive view : a red-orange surface and two dark curved lines configuring two semicircles forming a flat and curved X. Just below (we were using a star diagonal), an extensive dark area was visible. This area clearly outlined the white spot of one of its poles.

Concerning Mars’ satellites, we didnīt get Phobos (too close to Mars at that time) but perhaps we viewed Deimos. Honestly, we cannot confirm it. We knew its exact position and probably it was an optic effect.

Well, that’s all !!!

Clear skies and Best Regards,

Esteve

Follow Ups:

    Login to Post
    Additional Information
    Google
     
    Web www.astronomy.net
    DayNightLine
    About Astronomy Net | Advertise on Astronomy Net | Contact & Comments | Privacy Policy
    Unless otherwise specified, web site content Copyright 1994-2024 John Huggins All Rights Reserved
    Forum posts are Copyright their authors as specified in the heading above the post.
    "dbHTML," "AstroGuide," "ASTRONOMY.NET" & "VA.NET"
    are trademarks of John Huggins