Mars dust storm!

http://www.cnn.com/2005/TECH/space/1...ion=cnn_latest

Took a peak at Mars this morning 4:00 AM with my C-102F APO. I've seen a
large rectangular shape dark shading on the surface but no dust storm!
No snow caps can be seen either!
Switched to my 8" SCT, it was worst, seems the SCT don't have the
contrast as the 4" APO have. Shadings on Mars was very light, barely
noticeable.
Any one seen the dust storm?
Should I use a filter and what kind?
Julius

We were out past midnight here in Tucson with a Meade 8" SCT and an
Orion 127mm Apex and the details were quite spectacular at times. The
dust storm seems to have faded a bit in brightness but it is easily
visable between the Sinus Meridiani and Chryse regions. It seems to
have also filled the area between Sinus Sabaeus and Mare Serpentis
which is normally an obvious lighter gap between these two dark
regions. You may have had some turbulence and that's why your images
were low contrast. Also, images are pretty poor until Mars is at least
above 50 or 60 degrees elevation and best when it's at the zenith
(obviously). My 5" Apex tends to have a bit more contrast than the 8"
SCT, however, the SCT generally shows more detail due to the larger
aperture. The Apex is very impressive, however, and easily
outperformed a Celestron C-102 refractor the other evening on Mars.

Frank
Tucson, AZ

Kukuriku wrote in
:

http://www.cnn.com/2005/TECH/space/1....html?section=
cnn_latest

Took a peak at Mars this morning 4:00 AM with my C-102F APO. I've seen
a large rectangular shape dark shading on the surface but no dust
storm! No snow caps can be seen either!
Switched to my 8" SCT, it was worst, seems the SCT don't have the
contrast as the 4" APO have. Shadings on Mars was very light, barely
noticeable.
Any one seen the dust storm?
Should I use a filter and what kind?
Julius

I had a good look through a 120mm refractor at 200x with the planet 50
degrees up and there was a cross pattern and a broad brightening where
the dust storm is now. No polar caps but the shading was remarkably
obvious and I didn't feel a need for any filters.

Make sure your eyepieces and barlow if any are clean.

JD

wrote:
We were out past midnight here in Tucson with a Meade 8" SCT and an
Orion 127mm Apex and the details were quite spectacular at times. The
dust storm seems to have faded a bit in brightness but it is easily
visable between the Sinus Meridiani and Chryse regions. It seems to
have also filled the area between Sinus Sabaeus and Mare Serpentis
which is normally an obvious lighter gap between these two dark
regions. You may have had some turbulence and that's why your images
were low contrast. Also, images are pretty poor until Mars is at least
above 50 or 60 degrees elevation and best when it's at the zenith
(obviously). My 5" Apex tends to have a bit more contrast than the 8"
SCT, however, the SCT generally shows more detail due to the larger
aperture. The Apex is very impressive, however, and easily
outperformed a Celestron C-102 refractor the other evening on Mars.

Frank
Tucson, AZ


I owned the more expensive 6" Intes Mak-Cass before, sharp scope,
refractor like images, but soon as the seeing wasn't there image quality
broke down easy.
I like good quality refractors.
I'll try the 8" SCT again on Mars tonight after midnight, see if it gets
clearer when the planet is higher.
Julius

wrote:
We were out past midnight here in Tucson with a Meade 8" SCT and an
Orion 127mm Apex and the details were quite spectacular at times. The
dust storm seems to have faded a bit in brightness but it is easily
visable between the Sinus Meridiani and Chryse regions. It seems to
have also filled the area between Sinus Sabaeus and Mare Serpentis
which is normally an obvious lighter gap between these two dark
regions. You may have had some turbulence and that's why your images
were low contrast. Also, images are pretty poor until Mars is at least
above 50 or 60 degrees elevation and best when it's at the zenith
(obviously). My 5" Apex tends to have a bit more contrast than the 8"
SCT, however, the SCT generally shows more detail due to the larger
aperture. The Apex is very impressive, however, and easily
outperformed a Celestron C-102 refractor the other evening on Mars.

Frank
Tucson, AZ


The Apex is very impressive, however, and easily
outperformed a Celestron C-102 refractor the other evening on Mars.

Right! I don't buy that! You thinking of the Achro 102, not the APO.
I own a 4" Russian Mak f/10, my TV Pronto 70mm used to own, kicked the
Mak any time.
Julius

The C102 achro.

FC

wrote:
The C102 achro.

FC


Mars is the worst object to observe with any Achro refractor. Planet can
swim in all the colors of rainbow easy.
Even an ED doublet shows lot of falls color on Mars, while it's fine on
the others.
My C102 Fluorite APO shows no visual falls color on Mars in focus.
For a budget minded hobbyist the C102F APO (about $1200) is the best 4"
refractor to get.
Julius

JD wrote:
Kukuriku wrote in
:


http://www.cnn.com/2005/TECH/space/1....html?section=
cnn_latest

Took a peak at Mars this morning 4:00 AM with my C-102F APO. I've seen
a large rectangular shape dark shading on the surface but no dust
storm! No snow caps can be seen either!
Switched to my 8" SCT, it was worst, seems the SCT don't have the
contrast as the 4" APO have. Shadings on Mars was very light, barely
noticeable.
Any one seen the dust storm?
Should I use a filter and what kind?
Julius


I had a good look through a 120mm refractor at 200x

Is that a 120mm APO?
What brand?
Julius

with the planet 50
degrees up and there was a cross pattern and a broad brightening where
the dust storm is now. No polar caps but the shading was remarkably
obvious and I didn't feel a need for any filters.

Make sure your eyepieces and barlow if any are clean.

JD

Kukuriku wrote:
http://www.cnn.com/2005/TECH/space/1...ion=cnn_latest


Took a peak at Mars this morning 4:00 AM with my C-102F APO. I've seen a
large rectangular shape dark shading on the surface but no dust storm!
No snow caps can be seen either!
Switched to my 8" SCT, it was worst, seems the SCT don't have the
contrast as the 4" APO have. Shadings on Mars was very light, barely
noticeable.
Any one seen the dust storm?
Should I use a filter and what kind?

Hi,

Don't feel bad .. I was trying to see if I could spot the storm with
my 8" Dobsonian, but was not successful either. True, the seeing wasn't very
good, but I thought with 8 inches I'd be able to see some of the storm.
(perhaps I did, but didn't realize it :-) ..

I guess our eyes in real time are no match for cameras accumulating
photons over time ....

I'll be trying again later this week.

Esmail

I had a good look through a 120mm refractor at 200x

Is that a 120mm APO?
What brand?
Julius

I used a Synta, best of 3 I had.
Amazingly, it is well corrected for the red planet and false color isn't
apparent. But then Venus is a different animal.

JD