Observed Mars last night and saw the ice cap and a bit of detail, but just mucking around I put this montage together showing roughly the eyepiece view through my telescope at various magnifications. Mars is around 13 arcseconds diameter at the moment. I don't use wide-angle EPs, and these would be typical views through ordinary plossls etc. 225x is about maxed-out for my 4.5" scope!
Enlarge to full size in screen because it's quite wide - hope it's of interest.
Excellent idea Rob.
lets many newbies know what to expect when looking through a scope similar to yours.
Many Telescope ads are very misleading. They show huge planets and full colour nebulas and Giant galaxies.
Thanks Ken, jjjnettie! Yeah Ken, a post in the Beginners section kinda inspired it. There are no giant planets the size of 20c coins to be seen through the eyepiece of any of our telescopes! Go video (webcams etc) if you want that - Ken will show you!
And 225x is 225x no matter what scope you're looking through, only the width of the field might vary with premium eyepieces. That is, the same view through say a 16" Dob at 225x (using whatever eyepiece) except tiny Mars will be blindingly bright! Your mind is a wonderful thing though, and works to 'compensate' for the tiny size.
So with Mars if you want to see something even reasonably large you need a bigger scope than mine that has the resolution to go to 400 or 500x, but above all you need the seeing to handle it. And that's rare!
I observed Mars last night for the first time through my brand new 8" Skywatcher Dob. Similar views to those below through the 6mm EP (200x). I saw the ice cap but there was little contrast between the cap and the rest of the planet - the image was incredibly bright - perhaps a filter would improve contrast and increase my chances of seeing some more detail? There was a breeze and I was observing through the glow of the railway station across the road.
Nice work, Rob. Always gets me how tiny Mars is, even when it is at its closest to us.
The sketching stickies in this forum are a part of showing folks what can actually be seen through a scope. Yes, a nice way to show some clever pencil work, but these images are the only real depiction of what is actually seen through a scope on the whole of IIS outside of the Obs and Vis forum. Probably the only "honest" advertising too, .
Rob's exceptional work with his 114 scope shows what can be had with this scope in good hands. It's not just about a 16" RC, mounted on an R2D2, processed with C3PO, subract this, multiply that...
Just an eyeball, pencil and paper, a real scope and real eyepieces.
Yet no one thinks about sending "beginners" to these threads when discussions are had about what scopes can actually do and what you will see. Hmm..., I might have to do something about that,
Bit of a rant, sorry Rob. I really like your intensions.
Great job Rob, please keep it coming.
Many newbies like me would like to know what it really look like when you look through a scope,simply, so you know, you are looking at the correct object in the night sky,instead of scratching your head.
J
Yet no one thinks about sending "beginners" to these threads when discussions are had about what scopes can actually do and what you will see. Hmm..., I might have to do something about that,
Bit of a rant, sorry Rob. I really like your intensions.
Keep on sketch'n.
I suggest the obs forum to beginners ALL the time, and the reasons why they would learn so much in there. Truly I do... tirelessly in fact. Ask anyone that reads my beginner help posts. Don't I Ron?
Rob, great work you've done here- it'll come in handy for sure. I've bookmarked it for future reference to throw at Beginners.
I suggest the obs forum to beginners ALL the time, and the reasons why they would learn so much in there. Truly I do... tirelessly in fact. Ask anyone that reads my beginner help posts. Don't I Ron?
Mars is pretty interesting to observe as the surface markings can change as dust storms sweep the planet, but its a small planet only half the size of earth. Nice job Rob, this can really make a difference for people who have never actually seen Mars in the eyepiece.
Oh, and by the way, has anyone successfully spotted demos and Phobos by any chance, or are they out of the question?
Hard to get excited with a view of Mars that small.
Surely no features are observable at this magnification?
They certainly are Jan (at 225x). As far as excitement goes, just having Mars in the eyepiece at any scale does it for me. The excitement is always what Mars is, not what it looks like. If I really want to see that I'll go to the Astrophotography section!
But like anything, you need to spend time. The ice cap was easily visible though. Seeing is the key to it more than scale. If Mars is rock steady and not too bright (you may need a ND or polarising filter in a big aperture scope to reduce brightness), then detail can be recognised. Big detail that is, like Syrtis Major.
But Mars detail is of very low contrast visually, unlike Jupiter with the bands, GRS etc, and may require a bit of practice to draw it out. Your eyes also seem to do a bit of magic to 'enlarge' the tiny disc, bit like looking at the Moon in the sky.
One thing you can't escape from is that Mars has a much smaller angular size than Saturn, Jupiter or Venus and if you want to see much of it you need the combination of opposition and a night of really good seeing. Even to be able to push the magnification to 225x needs fairly steady seeing.
Mars will have an angular diameter of 14" of arc, at opposition on th 3rd March.Surprisingly, it only will take a magnification of 130x, to make its disc to appear, as the full moon is to the naked eye. Though in practise, one would use around twice that magnification, and up to get the best visual out of Mars at this opposition. Of course, seeing is all important. Also at larger apertures one would expect to pick up more surface detail.
It's not my idea and I can't remember where I first saw it, so apologies for not giving credit, but...
The joy of amateur astronomy is not simply what you're seeing. It's understanding what you're seeing and how you're seeing it, and marvelling at the fact that you can see it so easily.
I love looking at Hubble images with crystal clarity and amazing detail that I'd never get out of my 12". But I still get the 12" out, and the reasons are completely different and it means so much more to me.
Mars is pretty interesting to observe as the surface markings can change as dust storms sweep the planet, but its a small planet only half the size of earth. Nice job Rob, this can really make a difference for people who have never actually seen Mars in the eyepiece.
Oh, and by the way, has anyone successfully spotted demos and Phobos by any chance, or are they out of the question?
some very clever AP'er here on IIS posted some amazing pics of one of mars' moons a week ago
check "solar system images"
pat
It's not my idea and I can't remember where I first saw it, so apologies for not giving credit, but...
The joy of amateur astronomy is not simply what you're seeing. It's understanding what you're seeing and how you're seeing it, and marvelling at the fact that you can see it so easily.
I love looking at Hubble images with crystal clarity and amazing detail that I'd never get out of my 12". But I still get the 12" out, and the reasons are completely different and it means so much more to me.
Well said sir......and I only have a 10 inch dob and more often than not just the IS binos
.
Don't I Ron? 
