Morning Planets

[Tropo-Bob (Bob)]

I had a quick look this morning with my Tak FC100D at the Mars, Saturn and the Moon.

Mars is still high in the sky and ideally placed for observation. The polar ice cap was still prominent. Using 148x, I thought it had shrunk a little from last week and the dark band below the cap did not seem as obvious. Other marking did not really show.

Saturn has become too low to see well at 6am and was badly affected by the seeing. I best forget about it as being a morning planet.

The Moon was placed with the straight wall and Plato both being on the terminator. Only the rim of Plato could be seen, as the floor was covered by shadow.

I enjoyed my quick look, especially since I could not observe last night because of clouds.

[Tropo-Bob (Bob)]

I was out looking at Mars and the Moon at 6.30 this morning with my little Vixen ED81mm

Mars is now well over to the West, only about 30 degrees above the horizon.

Ice at both poles was visible at 125x and some faint markings were visible on the surface. It sounds a little boring, but it wasn't. Mars is now large and bright and just seeing it this big and such an expanse of its orange surface against a twilight sky was quite thrilling.

[Uncle_Martin (Igor)]

Yep, and still covered by the dust storm. The South Polar Cap is bright again but I could not pick out the North Pole as a cloud hood, save a slight thickening of the limb haze.


I don't use more than a 4mm eyepiece with my Celestron 8" Newtonian usually because of Sydney suburban skies but filters in orange-red improve contrast - marginally.