Re: faliure so far trying to see mars

On Fri, 18 Nov 2005 13:10:18 +0000, Clive <nospam@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
wrote:

>i live near the coast and the last few nights i have been trying to
>get a good view of mars, went out last night and had clear sky so i
>setup the scope and all i got was a fuzzy white ball with maybe a hint
>of surface detail but nothing half decent. it wasnt till i used a
>torch i saw what was maybe the problem, although the sky looked clear
>the beam from the torch when pointed to the sky looked like it was
>going through a really thick fog so i guess thats what ruined my view.
>anyone else had any luck viewing mars or are you suffering the same
>problem as me

You're view is probably what you should be seeing. What sort of
telescope are you using? If it's an SCT or a reflector, is it
collimated? Have you allowed enough time for the scope to cool. A
couple of hours outside in the dark will normally sort that issue out
but even then it can vary depending on the type of scope and the
temperature it's been brought out from.

What time did you make your attempt? If it was early, the light from
Mars would have been coming through a thick layer of wobbly atmosphere
- made even wose if you are viewing it above a heat source.

Were your optics dew/frost(!) free? If not, a 12V hairdryer will sort
them out on the beach.

Visually, you really need a medium to large scope to get much out of
Mars. A small scope will show some surface markings and perhaps a
polar cap or two (the North Polar Hood should be visible but the South
Polar Cap is currently tiny). Images may give expectations of seeing
things that you just won't pick up visually. I showed someone one of
my webcam AVIs that lead to a reasonable finished image recently. They
were gobsmacked that processing techniques have advanced so much that
they can pull such detail ouf from that wobbly little disk.
--
Pete
http://www.digitalsky.org.uk
.

Relevant Pages

  • Re: Tips on viewing Mars?
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  • Re: contrast in SCT & MC : Meade, Celestron, Intes ?
    ... experience with Mars, which I'm looking forward to changing now that it's ... Don't second guess your scope. ... > better my old Intes Mak Cassegrain 6". ... > You might consider a larger aperture telescope. ...
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  • Re: faliure so far trying to see mars
    ... >>get a good view of mars, went out last night and had clear sky so i ... Have you allowed enough time for the scope to cool. ... >couple of hours outside in the dark will normally sort that issue out ... >polar cap or two (the North Polar Hood should be visible but the South ...
    (uk.sci.astronomy)
  • Re: Problems with dew
    ... >I was attempting to image Mars for the first time a few days ago using ... >the lens was covered in dew. ... >For my next attempt I will put the scope out just an hour before I can ... one method of clearing it is to use a hair dryer. ...
    (uk.sci.astronomy)