Astronomy · Observing Logs · Tag · mars

The following are all the observing reports tagged with the term mars displayed with the latest report first. If the report contains a direct reference to the tag then that part of the report will be displayed, otherwise only the report heading details will be present and you should click on the link to view the full report.

After some slight issues with buckets of water we were able to get the Meade trained on Mars, the planet rising in the east through the city lights of Aberdeen. After initially failing to track, some adjustments were made and through a 2” 40mm eyepiece (not ideal for planetary work) we were able to view the brilliant, salmony-pink planet. With only a week or so to go before opposition the planet was extremely bright and the hazy sky made it somewhat difficult to make out details, however in the few moments of clarity and good seeing it was possible to detect degradations in colour, particularly the bright polar cap. With a higher power eyepiece on my telescope at home I’m looking forward to seeing this in much greater detail and hopefully trying out some sketching.

Rising now at about 11pm in the east, Mars had risen above the houses (just about) by about 11:30pm when I saw it. Despite all the atmospheric disturbances, the view was very clear at low and medium magnifications, only breaking down at x200. At x100 the view was exceptional with the red-orange disc of Mars broken at the top by the star white of the large southern polar ice cap. I wasn't able to make out a great deal more detail but as it rises earlier each evening I should get better views in the coming weeks.