Draco
13-05-2014, 11:13 PM
Hello
I took out my telescope for some general viewing tonight. With the almost full moon in the sky, it was exceptionally brighter than usual :sadeyes:. Anyways, I set my eyes on Mars and slewed my telescope to it. First views were not too good since with my 10" and a 30mm eyepiece, it was quite tiny and bright. I turned to a 10mm, the image became larger but it was still too bright for me to notice any Martian landmarks.
I went in for dinner and came back 30min later. I slewed to Mars again for another try. To my surprise, I could see the ice caps on Mars quite clearly! This was one of those head scratching moments since I hadn't done anything since I came back. The 10mm eyepiece was still in the telescope so what gives! BTW my initial viewing was after 1hour of cooling the telescope.
By some chance I noticed a film of moisture on the primary lens of my telescope. I fought all temptations to wipe it down with a soft cloth :D but just then I realised that the dew had actually helped reduce the glare of Mars, thereby making the viewing much better
So do you guys think my conclusion is correct or is there something else that could have helped clear my viewing of Mars? Mars had crept abit higher in the 30min but the almost full moon was still behind it.
Thank you.
I took out my telescope for some general viewing tonight. With the almost full moon in the sky, it was exceptionally brighter than usual :sadeyes:. Anyways, I set my eyes on Mars and slewed my telescope to it. First views were not too good since with my 10" and a 30mm eyepiece, it was quite tiny and bright. I turned to a 10mm, the image became larger but it was still too bright for me to notice any Martian landmarks.
I went in for dinner and came back 30min later. I slewed to Mars again for another try. To my surprise, I could see the ice caps on Mars quite clearly! This was one of those head scratching moments since I hadn't done anything since I came back. The 10mm eyepiece was still in the telescope so what gives! BTW my initial viewing was after 1hour of cooling the telescope.
By some chance I noticed a film of moisture on the primary lens of my telescope. I fought all temptations to wipe it down with a soft cloth :D but just then I realised that the dew had actually helped reduce the glare of Mars, thereby making the viewing much better
So do you guys think my conclusion is correct or is there something else that could have helped clear my viewing of Mars? Mars had crept abit higher in the 30min but the almost full moon was still behind it.
Thank you.