Bright Star wrote in article
...
Don't assume that when you look at Mars through a telescope that you're
going to see it like the pictures in magazines & such.
Those pictures have been taken professionally using powerful equipment
utilizing long exposure times.
The very 1st time I looked at a planet through my "humble" telescope i
was disapointed.It didn't look anything like the pictures I had seen.But
after doing some learned research I realized that's the way it's
supposed to look.ONLY by taking photographs with long load times wil
celestial objects look like published pictures.

There are rumors that these "published pictures" are manipulated (digitally
enhanced, discolored, etc.) too. So that could be another reason.

--
Angels exist - and this artist has seen them!
http://www.rcip.com/nerdgerl/default.htm