Regarding Mars being an Orange Blob - Mars is low in the North for us Southerners, this means we are looking through a lot more atmosphere than say when looking at Jupiter (which is nice and South). What does looking through more atmosphere mean? Well, more air, more dust, more turbulence, more opportunity for detail to be removed as you now need good atmosphere over a very long section of air compared to looking straight up. There is an equation for how much extra atmosphere you are looking through, depending up the elevation you are looking but I'll leave that for a Google by those interested.
Don't give up yet, when you do get the "good air" you'll see detail, in the meantime keep honing your observation skills on other objects.
Mars is too low to see much detail, plus it is at a "poor" opposition, with the maximum size of the disc this year at just 14.10"
We'll have to wait until July 2018 for a perihelic opposition where the disc will reach 24.3" and the planet will be almost directly overhead in Capricornus at -25 declination to boot!
Btw, in that same month Saturn and Jupiter will be visible high in the sky in Sagittarius and Libra respectively at the same time with Saturn's rings fully open plus Venus will be a fixture in the evening sky aswell! July 2018 will be a southern Hemisphere planetary observer's wet dream
Interesting fact - all Perihelic oppositions of Mars occur with the planet south of the celestial equator, while all poor oppositions occur in the north.
Coen and pgc hunter have made a good point about Mars being too low in the sky for us southern observers.
Assuming the Earth's atmosphere is around 100km thick, the actual line of sight thickness at various angles above the horizon is
0 degrees --- 11 times the vertical thickness
5 degrees --- 7 times the vertical thickness
9 degrees --- 5 times the vertical thickness
18 degrees --- 3 times the vertical thickness
30 degrees --- 2 times the vertical thickness
40 degrees --- 1.5 times the vertical thickness
Where I am, Mars is currently about 30 degrees above the horizon when at the meridian (north-south line). This means double the atmospheric width for viewing.
It is also important to note with Mars that sometimes the planet itself is wrapped in a dust storm so all you might see is an orange ball, there are the occasional clouds and other weather features.
I take on board what you guys say, but personally, I was underwhelmed by the view of jupiter, also.
I have ordered a collimator, though. Unfortunately for this weekend, the mailman has failed me. This is probably why brisbane's skies are comparatively clear tonight
I think my scope may need more cooling time. It is a solid tube 12 inch dob without the fan running which I assume is one of the worst prospects for cooling time. I was out for maybe 2 hours and the view did seem to improve but I think it wasn't enough.
I'm sure, patience, experience.. and the wallet will improve things.
I think my scope may need more cooling time. It is a solid tube 12 inch dob without the fan running which I assume is one of the worst prospects for cooling time. I was out for maybe 2 hours and the view did seem to improve but I think it wasn't enough.
Just curious, did you install the fan yourself or came with the scope. If the fan has noise either bearing or speed noise then it can also be vibration too.
Not sure what you are expecting to see. You definately won't see what is shown in some images posted on this website. I find that viewing especially with a DOB is better for locating and observing deep sky stuff. The images you see on this site and others are heavily processed to counter all the noise issues with the atmosphere.
I have posted 2 images captured from my DOB, no tracking, just took a stream of 10,000 frames with Jupiter travelling across the FOV. The first image is a single frame out of the 10,000 that image was processed by 2 program to get to that stage. The second is the final image processed through andother 3 different programs to get this final result.
As you can see the first image would be considered rough and when taking the images I used 2 filters IR(CCD Specific) and double polarizing filter to reduce exposure. I also used the camera exposure control as well.
Apart from the noise my viewing on a good day would be worse than the 1st image, although I am not using planetary eyepieces yet. If anyone says I should see better than my first image please tell me
Just curious, did you install the fan yourself or came with the scope. If the fan has noise either bearing or speed noise then it can also be vibration too.
Factory installed (GSO 12). But I actually said I do not use it (and haven't ever, so far).
I totally agree with your comments regarding what a dob is better used for.
My view of jupiter wasn't anywhere near as good as that. Jupiter is maybe too bright to see that much detail on, for me. I don't think there is anything wrong with my scope, I just think I need some time to figure it out.
My expectations aren't particularly high, though. I would be very happy with the view you got on your single frame.
A tip: Some of my most memorable planetary views have been around dusk before the air has cooled too much to affect the seeing and thermal equilibrium of the scope. Makes Jupiters brightness a bit easier on the eye too.
Hulloleads, were you Marvin The Paranoid Android in a previous life?
Nothing said here hasn't been said by the majority of newbies. I'm deeply sorry if you find such troubleshooting difficult to stomach and simply must endear yourself to the masses by obnoxiously interjecting with asinine commentary.
Now if you'll excuse me, my joints are siezing up.
Jesus settle mate, it was meant as a joke!
Not a Hitchhikers Guide fan then?
It just seems like you are quite negative about your chosen hobby, you could have started some of your messages with
""i think you should all know that im feeling very depressed today""
Visual astronomy is all about orange discs and faint detail, the enjoyment comes a lot from knowing what it takes to see those faint details. if you dont enjoy that, try astrophotography
Jesus settle mate, it was meant as a joke!
Not a Hitchhikers Guide fan then?
It just seems like you are quite negative about your chosen hobby, you could have started some of your messages with
""i think you should all know that im feeling very depressed today""
Visual astronomy is all about orange discs and faint detail, the enjoyment comes a lot from knowing what it takes to see those faint details. if you dont enjoy that, try astrophotography
I've been a bit crabby there, and for that I apologise but it's actually what you're pointing out that makes me crabby. A person would have be insane not to be in awe of what they are seeing. I'm just kind of the opinion that with what we're discussing- ie getting better views, it's sort of a given that we're enchanted by it.
And the reality is, I am a fan, and that's exactly why there's no damn way on earth I want to be compared with Marvin
