We finally got a break in the weather after 6 weeks of rain and clouds, so I got up at 4:15 this morning to take my first look at Mars since the 2001 opposition. It was a fantastic morning!
The skies were a little hazy with intermittent clouds, but a few clear spots as well. Overall transparency was poor, with only about 25 stars visible in the entire sky. Seeing was actually above average, though, and Mars shone brightly in the southeast, about 32 degrees above the horizon.
Whenever I go out to observe a single object in detail, I always start by noting my general impressions without the use of any filters (using the Nagler Zoom for planets). My first views with the Oracle (76mm objective, 560mm focal length) showed Mars as a nice peach color, with a few darker areas adjacent to a brilliant white polar ice cap. I was quite surprised by the intensity of the polar cap--it is obviously truly white and much more reflective than the rest of the planet. The edge of the polar cap was sharply defined and slightly irregular (that is, it did not appear to form a perfect circle around the pole, but had some little variation to its shape). I compared this same view to the one in my 6” Orion reflector (750mm focal length); the reflector showed a larger, brighter image, with a little more saturation in the peach coloring (just as expected).
Next, I spent quite some time (about 45 minutes) swapping eyepieces and filters to find the optimal views in each scope. While I love the Nagler Zoom (it is my most-often-used eyepiece), I found that my 4mm Radian provided the best view in both scopes, by a surprisingly large margin. The little zoom was still very nice in the Oracle at ~3.5mm, where the extra magnification helped, but the Radian won convincingly. I believe its greatest advantage today was not in the optics, but the instadjust eyeguard and pupil guide: It did a great job of shielding my eye from the ever-brightening ambient light. With the zoom, I had to cup my hands around the eyepiece to block outside light. (For the record, I also tried an 8mm RKE with a 2.5x Powermate. It gave a bright, sharp image, similar in contrast to the zoom, but not nearly as comfortable.) As far as filters go, I found that a #21 Orange was ideal for the Oracle, while either a #23A light red or #21 worked well in the the larger reflector. These filters did a great job of bringing out the dark regions on the planet. I had little or no success this morning with 80A & 82A light blue filters, possibly because there was so much blue light already being scattered in our own atmosphere by the light haze, thin clouds, and approaching sunrise.
Once I had settled on my eyepiece and filter combinations, I started on my first-ever planetary sketch. First I sketched everything that I could see, using the Oracle as my primary instrument (it’s just plain sharper and more comfortable than the newt), and filling in any additional details from the reflector afterwards. After it was complete, I pulled out a simulated view that I had printed yesterday with the Mars Previewer software. (I prefer not to “cheat” by looking at the preview beforehand, or I may see more details with “averted imagination”.) It was actually pretty close! Finally, I went back to the scopes to look for details that I might have missed, and identified one lighter region based on the Previewer printout. Since it was actually visible in the scopes, I corrected the sketch before packing up. The total time spent sketching was about 30 minutes.
When I finished, I was surprised to find that the sky had brightened so much that I could no longer see Mars naked-eye. In the telescope, the unfiltered view actually improved quite a bit as the background sky got lighter. I lost the peach color, but the contrast between light & dark regions was much more obvious. I did go looking for Venus & Mercury rising, but the eastern horizon was covered with clouds.
This morning was also “first light” for my new observing chair, and I must say that it was wonderful! It’s one that I built over the past few rainy weeks (see details here). After sitting on a little stepstool for months & months, this was nothing short of luxury!
In the end, I spent about 90 minutes observing Mars. Despite the fact that we’re still almost three months from opposition, I have already seen more detail than I did throughout the entire 2001 apparition. Part of this is due to much better equipment this time around, and the rest is due to a dramatic improvement in my observing skills. I look forward to seeing a lot more of Mars this summer!
Clear skies,
Neil