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Last night at about 8:45pm Meridiani Planum was approx. on the CM and Syrtis Major off to the side. These features are normally dark but we're at least showing as a hint of through the dust storm. In a week Syrtis Major shall be on the CM at about the same time.
I was using a C9.25 and Tele Vue 10mm Radian with Tele Vue Bandmate Mars Type A, Bandmate Mars Type B and Bandmate Planetary filter in a filter slide. The natural view was bright and low contrast and the filters made a dramatic improvement. My preference was for the Type A, (very natural but more contrast) followed by the Planetary, (love the pinkish hue on the Martian soil). The Type B is normally my favourite but this on a refractor. It is similar to orange #21 but far more efficient and gives a bright contrasty image with an overall orange appearance.
You will find that once the dust clears the dark features have enough contrast that filters are not essential but still do provide an improvement. Last night all filters gave better contrast than no filter but none are magic and won't penetrate through dust. A hint of the two features I mentioned was visible without filters but I preferred the view with as it wasn't as bright. More magnification is normally recommended to bring the brightness down but the local seeing here did not support it last night.
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