Re: 4 inch reflector can't resolve Mars at all
- From: "Curtis Croulet" <calypte@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Thu, 03 May 2007 03:08:26 GMT
I have a Nexstar 114GT and it can give visuals of the moon nicely
(most scopes can I think) but I can't see sqwat when I point to Mars.
I pointed to it 1-2 years ago when it was all over the news that it
was close to Earth, but all I could see was a pink little ball, no
features at all. Also in Saturn all I could see is a tiny little dot
with a tiny circle around it.
The others have made good suggestions -- making sure your scope is
collimated and even getting a bigger scope -- but keep in mind that Mars is
always a very challenging object. Many observers express disappointment.
Worse, right now Mars is only about 5 arc seconds in diameter. No scope, no
matter the aperture or optical quality, is going to show much. In December,
when it gets up to almost 16 arc seconds, it'll be better. But even then,
don't expect much. If you can see a polar cap and Syrtis Major during the
December opposition, then you should feel fortunate. It'll be 2018 before
we have a decent opposition again. As for Saturn, when I show it to the
public in good "seeing," I get one of two reactions: (1) "That looks like a
picture!" or (2) "It's so small!" Saturn *is* small. In addition, the
three planets that offer any hope of seeing detail (Mars, Jupiter, Saturn)
are much paler than juiced up HST photos suggest. You might experiment with
eyepiece filters (red or orange for Mars) to enhance contrast, but don't
expect to see much on Mars right now.
--
Curtis Croulet
Temecula, California
33°27'59"N, 117°05'53"W
.
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