MARS from Castro Valley

by Richard Crisp

Last night I was imaging from the backyard and was totally entranced with the views of Mars through my TV101 with a 2xBarlow and an 8mm eyepiece. The polar icecap was so prominent that at first glance it appeared to be a defect in the optics. Upon closer inspection it was clearly the icecap. Totally awesome. I could not keep my eyes off of it to the point where I missed some routine attention needed at the imaging gear. No big deal in the image gear (no I was not imaging Mars, that will be another day).

Anyway it was wonderful to see the Red God of War so well.