by John Gleason
Well I couldn't get out of the east bay yesterday to get down to the Peak, but I did spend considerable time with the 4" AP and 6" AP instruments on Mars in front of my garage. Seeing was splendid with nice blue-gray pastels observed in the dusky markings of Syrtis Major, Mare Serpentis and Sinus Sabaeus. I was very impressed with the performance of the Vixen Lanthanum 2.5 mm eyepiece with the 4" f/6. Lovely diffraction limited performance with Mars a tight, solid featured disk. The Zeiss Binoview in conjunction with 7mm Naglers and the 6" f/7 yielded the most striking of all views as visual contrast was raised.
The walk from the telescope to the garage sure beat the return drive from Fremont Peak, but I wish I had been there anyway. Plans are to head down tonight with the 6" f/7 and Epoch Instruments Parsec mount -- just like days of old. That high stuff will most certainly blow through. :-)