On Tuesday, August 12, 2014 8:36:54 AM UTC-4, Quadibloc wrote:
On Tuesday, August 12, 2014 4:52:15 AM UTC-6, wsne... wrote:

No, it should be possible to obtain enough magnification with even a small
telescope.

Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't mention that one should also have a sharp and clear image rather than a round red blur.

Having seen Mars through a 4-inch telescope at about 480x magnification, the maximum recommended for that aperture, I know it was nowhere near as large in apparent diameter as the full moon.

At a favorable opposition, a magnification of 1400x is required. This, at 60x per inch, requires an aperture of 23 inches.

Assuming that Mars is 20 arc seconds and the Moon is ~ 1800 arc seconds in diameter, then 1800/20 = 90x would be sufficient at a favorable opposition, and well within reach of many small scopes.