TheSkySearchers

Mars opposition is coming later this year. This is a big deal, because it happens only every other year, and between the oppositions Mars disk is too small to resolve much of the details.

Here is a nice article on this topic

https://www.skyatnightmagazine.com/advi ... pposition/

Bring it on

Ylem wrote: ↑Tue Sep 20, 2022 11:34 pm
Bring it on

I know right?! Been (impatiently) waiting since the fall of 2020.

I don't think I've ever had a decent view of Mars! A good year for planetary with Jupiter being closest to us and Mars should show this year a relatively good-sized disc at opposition. I think still going to need the big guns of the 12" and some good seeing but I'm looking forward to it.

Looking forward to checking it out with my "new" SVX127D!!

Dave

I had a great view of Mars in the Dob last time around (I guess 2020) at around 135x. The disk was very evident, the orange color, polar caps, and some markings at the center.

davesellars wrote: ↑Wed Sep 21, 2022 9:09 am I don't think I've ever had a decent view of Mars! A good year for planetary with Jupiter being closest to us and Mars should show this year a relatively good-sized disc at opposition. I think still going to need the big guns of the 12" and some good seeing but I'm looking forward to it.

4" ED/APO is a great planetary scope. On an average night when seeing limits productive power to 200x or less it will deliver better views than larger reflector. Only if you have a night of excellent (sub second) seeing, when you can push power to 300x and above larger reflector will have an advantage due to higher resolution.

helicon wrote: ↑Wed Sep 21, 2022 2:36 pm I had a great view of Mars in the Dob last time around (I guess 2020) at around 135x. The disk was very evident, the orange color, polar caps, and some markings at the center.

Also the seeing was incredibly good. Most of the time through the Dob Mars is a boiling tiny disk.

Hi Andrey. Thanks for the heads up on the Mars opposition. I have never had a really good view of Mars either due to the small size or terrible skies here at the time. Thanks again Andrey and the best of wishes to all to enjoy a great view of the red planet this coming December.

Here's an interesting tidbit:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giovanni_Schiaparelli

Among Schiaparelli's contributions are his telescopic observations of Mars. In his initial observations, he named the "seas" and "continents" of Mars. During the planet's "great opposition" of 1877, he observed a dense network of linear structures on the surface of Mars, which he called canali in Italian, meaning "channels", but the term was mistranslated into English as "canals."

I think we should be realistic. Mars is a tough object, far tougher than Jupiter. I have seen features in a 60mm refractor but they were far from clear. My best visual session was in 2003 with my 127mm Mak, where I was using 300-ish magnification. As for photographing it, I'm far from mastering it. This year's opposition is averagely favourable. Not only can earthly weather ruin Mars viewing and photography but so can martian dust storms.

Honestly, this is about as good as I have got and it's not impressive:



By all means, have a go. I certainly will. Just don't expect too much.

Agreed, because of lower contrast and smaller disk size (even at the opposition) Mars albedo features are harder to resolve.

So, it is a challenge to master your equipment and observing skills to resolve as many features as possible in a short window of the opposition (which could be made even shorter by Earth and Mars weather). This is what makes it exciting IMO.

Not to repeat myself, here are a few tricks I have learned about observing planets:

app.php/article/how-to-observe-the-moon-and-planets