Last night was one of the warmest nights we've had in a while, with that in mind I went in the backyard and Setup my 6" f/12 planetary DOB. On my deck for an hour for it to cool down. Views were incredible with the ever shrinking ice caps clearly visible, I also noticed a lot of low hanging clouds over the dark areas. Since I am not familiar with the geography of the red planet I could not tell what I was watching, but overall it was an enjoyable experience, after all isn't that what this hobby is all about?? I view at with the following powers (100,184,288 and 369 power using 18mm,10mm + barlow and a 6.4mm) I also used red and green color filters to enhance the cloud and surface features. I urge all of you to get out there and enjoy this as Mars is going to be leaving us soon for another 2 years with the best next viewing in the year 2003. I am awaiting the arrival of our summer planets Jupiter, Uranus and Neptune with Saturn to follow.