Finally rolled out the 14.5" StarMaster to see Mars for the first time during this apparition. The sky is very still up hee in Belmont Heights, and the temp. is just above the dew point (52°). Mars is still only 20 degrees above the S.E. horizon, but I can already see a nice polar cap with a few larger dark areas of surface detail and a bit of that bluish atmospheric haze that covers the Martian globe. Mars' image looks very steady at 200x for being at such a low altitude. I'll have to keep watching for the next few hous as Mars gets higher in the sky. Tonight should reveal a lot of martian detail. It feels great to be outside in 'relatively' warm observing weather.
I noticed much white cloudiness around the southern polar regions and also on the southg-eastern limb. The north polar cap was small (stellar). Was I seeing a large south polar cap or was this ivory-colored cloudiness. Syrtis Major was indeed very dark green-gray in color as it moved by, on top of an ochre-colored martian disk. Following Syrtis was the long dark well defined area called Sabaeus Sinus and Meridiani Sinus. The white cloudiness I saw along the limb areas gave Mars a jewel-like appearance (opalesque). The sky allowed me to use the 14.5" aperature instrument, and because of this, I saw good color on Mars. What a show! I'll use the 8.5" Ceravolo Mak, tonight to see what it will show me. I've never looked at Mars through the Ceravolo.
| Instrument | 14.5" StarMaster |
|---|---|
| Oculars | 319x, 6mm Zeiss Abbe Ortho |