Hey People, get your MARS on!

General astronomy-related discussion (publicly viewable)
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Apollo XX
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Hey People, get your MARS on!

Unread post by Apollo XX »

Pssst, how 'bout an easy wazzup? Yeah? O/K, here it is - the planet Mars. Everyone's favorite red dot in the sky is rapidly coming to opposition, and it's just waiting for you to see it!

Mars isn't the biggest thing you'll ever see in the night sky, but it sure is darned interesting. The red planet will appear to grow to a maximum size of 15.2 arc seconds in 2014, which is only about 1/4 the size of Jupiter at average opposition, but you'll still be amazed at what you can see on it if you give it a try. Surface markings and polar ice caps are well within the reach of small amatuer instruments under good seeing conditions, so why not give it a try?

Technically speaking, Mars is at opposition on April 8, 2014, when it will rise at just past 7:00pm in the evening. This means that it should be in steady air by about 9:00pm or so... prime time if there ever was! And as the month wears on it will rise earlier and earlier, making it accessible for even the most diehard first-shifter. The apparent size of the planet will not change significantly the entire month.

So why not give it a try indeed. Mars is currently located right above the bright star Spica in the constellation Virgo, so it's easy to find. When you do train your scope on it, don't be afraid to apply lots of magnification, as it's a relatively small object, but quite bright as well. And be sure to try different filters if you have them. I'm particuarly fond of a yellow filter to bring out the ice caps and dark surface features, but other colors are said to work well also.

So let's get out there, and please be sure to share your observations here with us on the BB. It's been a looooong winter, and this could be just the elixer to get things going again for the year to come.


Mike M.
"The purpose of life is the investigation of the Sun, the Moon, and the heavens." - Anaxagoras
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Apollo XX
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Re: Hey People, get your MARS on!

Unread post by Apollo XX »

Saw Mars tonight for about an hour. It was clear out but with poor seeing. Only detail I could glean was the small north polar ice cap. Tried several different filters, but surface features were elusive. Apparent size was 14.9" tonight, and will get a tiny bit bigger over the next couple of weeks.

Also looked at M82. No more supernova for the small scope visual observer.

Mike M.
"The purpose of life is the investigation of the Sun, the Moon, and the heavens." - Anaxagoras
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AndyG
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Re: Hey People, get your MARS on!

Unread post by AndyG »

Yeah, I was trying to do some imaging last night but the seeing was so bad it was driving my auto-focus routine bonkers. Probably not the best night for planetary observing :roll:

Just curious, what do you all use for astronomical weather forecasting information?

The ones I use all have their pros and cons:

Clear Sky Chart - 2 days only, not very clear presentation (I forget what the color shades mean and have to always turn on the mouse-over thingy)
Intellicast - updates frequently, nice hourly cloud cover chart going several days into future
Weather Underground - I like the chart that comes up when you click "Try our Beta" and add cloud cover
Astro Panel - Android app - seems to have the most useful presentation of data for observation planning, but the server is a bit unreliable and recently stopped working for weeks on end.
Andy
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DonB
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Re: Hey People, get your MARS on!

Unread post by DonB »

Well now I use Intellicast. Thanks Andy :lol: :lol:

Don
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When I was 21, I could not believe how much he had learned in 3 years."
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Apollo XX
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Re: Hey People, get your MARS on!

Unread post by Apollo XX »

AndyG wrote:
Clear Sky Chart - 2 days only, not very clear presentation (I forget what the color shades mean and have to always turn on the mouse-over thingy)
Glad to know I'm not the only one who can't seem to intuitively understand the chart. I also have to use the mouse over helper. I've found the CSC to be pretty accurate as far as seeing and cloud cover goes. I'm skeptical about anyone's ability to predict minor (to most people) weather details like cloud cover, so haven't really explored any options for longer predictions. My mainstays have been the weather channel hourly forecast as far as it goes, and the NOAA forecast. http://forecast.weather.gov/MapClick.ph ... z3kfoLD_cs

Mike
"The purpose of life is the investigation of the Sun, the Moon, and the heavens." - Anaxagoras
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Apollo XX
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Re: Hey People, get your MARS on!

Unread post by Apollo XX »

Hey All, get your Mars while it's still big (for Mars anyway). The Red Planet will still be around 15" in apparent diameter into next week, and we're entering the new moon zone. Now is a great time to check it out before we leave it in the dust in the race around the Sun.

Mike
"The purpose of life is the investigation of the Sun, the Moon, and the heavens." - Anaxagoras
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Apollo XX
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Re: Hey People, get your MARS on!

Unread post by Apollo XX »

Mars is still a good object for a small telescope. The tiny red planet is transiting the meridian along the ecliptic around 10pm-ish and is the brightest thing in that area of the sky, so it's easy to find. It's currently at about 14.1" in apparent diameter, but there is a suprising amount of detail to be had even at that small size. If the seeing will support 175-200x, you can easily glean the shrinking north polar ice cap and dark surface features. Dust storms on the planet can affect how those features present themselves, but based on my last two observations things are relatively calm right now. The rusty color of the disc is something not seen anywhere else through a telescope. We're pulling away fast from our closest outer neighbor and it won't be long before we put the Sun between us and them, so if you get the chance maybe you want to take a peek at it.

Mike M.
"The purpose of life is the investigation of the Sun, the Moon, and the heavens." - Anaxagoras
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