Mars help

Hi I have today bought myself a telescope (Telstar 500*114 reflector) so I
might be able to see Mars if the sky clears.
Two questions
1. I wondered if any one would help point in the right direction to try and
see Mars?
2 .) Is this scope powerfull enough?
Thx in advance
Wendy

Pls remove no spam if emailing


It would help if you told us whereabouts you are...

if you follow up this message with your UK postcode, i will tell you
exactly where and when you can see Mars.

However as a rule of thumb Mars rises at about 22:00 in the south east
110-120 degrees on a compass, and is visible from about 10 degrees
above the horizon, at the moment, apart from the moon its the
brightest object in the night sky.

Its in the constellation of Aquarius, nearest large star is Skat (boy
is that going to gets some hits from the perverts searching google
groups), and if haven't got a Sextant or a protractor a good rule of
thumb is to make a fist hold it at arms length, and each fist above
the horizon is appx 10 degrees.

At twilight tonight( appx 19:30-20:00) look almost directly over head,
and the brightest star you can see is called Vega, now look in the
opposite direct to where the sun sets look 3 fists to the right of
that and about 5 fists up, and you should see two bright stars Altair
and the not so bright Tarazed if you can locate those two
stand with vega overhead and Altair to your right then look down from
Altair about 3 fists and left about 3 fists, that puts you in the
right part of the sky to see Mars at about 22:00

Tonight Mars will be at its highest in the Night sky at around 01:00,
when it will be due south (180 degrees) and at about 25 degrees (two
and a half) fists above the horizon, this is looking from London and
the home counties, but in other parts of the country it will be a few
degrees either side of what i said above.

As for you other question, is your scope powerful enough, well that
depends entirely on how much detail you want to see?.

As you can see Mars with the naked eye, then any magnification scope
is going to improve that, but with astronomy size isn't everything.

In fact too much magnification can be more useless than none, because
you have to remember a couple of things, not just the planet you are
looking at is magnified, shake, heat haze mirror and optical faults
are all magnified as well.

Also the greater the magnification, the less light enters the lens.


With your scope and a 9mm eyepiece you should be able to make out at
the very least mars and its polar icecaps.

I hope this helps


Looking for astro bits and pieces?
http://members.ebay.co.uk/aboutme/orpheus1959

Thx for your help I am in Exmouth
Wendy
wrote in message
...
Hi I have today bought myself a telescope (Telstar 500*114 reflector) so
I
might be able to see Mars if the sky clears.
Two questions
1. I wondered if any one would help point in the right direction to try
and
see Mars?
2 .) Is this scope powerfull enough?
Thx in advance
Wendy

Pls remove no spam if emailing


It would help if you told us whereabouts you are...

if you follow up this message with your UK postcode, i will tell you
exactly where and when you can see Mars.

However as a rule of thumb Mars rises at about 22:00 in the south east
110-120 degrees on a compass, and is visible from about 10 degrees
above the horizon, at the moment, apart from the moon its the
brightest object in the night sky.

Its in the constellation of Aquarius, nearest large star is Skat (boy
is that going to gets some hits from the perverts searching google
groups), and if haven't got a Sextant or a protractor a good rule of
thumb is to make a fist hold it at arms length, and each fist above
the horizon is appx 10 degrees.

At twilight tonight( appx 19:30-20:00) look almost directly over head,
and the brightest star you can see is called Vega, now look in the
opposite direct to where the sun sets look 3 fists to the right of
that and about 5 fists up, and you should see two bright stars Altair
and the not so bright Tarazed if you can locate those two
stand with vega overhead and Altair to your right then look down from
Altair about 3 fists and left about 3 fists, that puts you in the
right part of the sky to see Mars at about 22:00

Tonight Mars will be at its highest in the Night sky at around 01:00,
when it will be due south (180 degrees) and at about 25 degrees (two
and a half) fists above the horizon, this is looking from London and
the home counties, but in other parts of the country it will be a few
degrees either side of what i said above.

As for you other question, is your scope powerful enough, well that
depends entirely on how much detail you want to see?.

As you can see Mars with the naked eye, then any magnification scope
is going to improve that, but with astronomy size isn't everything.

In fact too much magnification can be more useless than none, because
you have to remember a couple of things, not just the planet you are
looking at is magnified, shake, heat haze mirror and optical faults
are all magnified as well.

Also the greater the magnification, the less light enters the lens.


With your scope and a 9mm eyepiece you should be able to make out at
the very least mars and its polar icecaps.

I hope this helps


Looking for astro bits and pieces?
http://members.ebay.co.uk/aboutme/orpheus1959

Thx for your help I am in Exmouth
Wendy
wrote in message
...
Hi I have today bought myself a telescope (Telstar 500*114 reflector) so
I
might be able to see Mars if the sky clears.
Two questions
1. I wondered if any one would help point in the right direction to try
and
see Mars?
2 .) Is this scope powerfull enough?
Thx in advance
Wendy

Pls remove no spam if emailing


It would help if you told us whereabouts you are...

if you follow up this message with your UK postcode, i will tell you
exactly where and when you can see Mars.

However as a rule of thumb Mars rises at about 22:00 in the south east
110-120 degrees on a compass, and is visible from about 10 degrees
above the horizon, at the moment, apart from the moon its the
brightest object in the night sky.

Its in the constellation of Aquarius, nearest large star is Skat (boy
is that going to gets some hits from the perverts searching google
groups), and if haven't got a Sextant or a protractor a good rule of
thumb is to make a fist hold it at arms length, and each fist above
the horizon is appx 10 degrees.

At twilight tonight( appx 19:30-20:00) look almost directly over head,
and the brightest star you can see is called Vega, now look in the
opposite direct to where the sun sets look 3 fists to the right of
that and about 5 fists up, and you should see two bright stars Altair
and the not so bright Tarazed if you can locate those two
stand with vega overhead and Altair to your right then look down from
Altair about 3 fists and left about 3 fists, that puts you in the
right part of the sky to see Mars at about 22:00

Tonight Mars will be at its highest in the Night sky at around 01:00,
when it will be due south (180 degrees) and at about 25 degrees (two
and a half) fists above the horizon, this is looking from London and
the home counties, but in other parts of the country it will be a few
degrees either side of what i said above.

As for you other question, is your scope powerful enough, well that
depends entirely on how much detail you want to see?.

As you can see Mars with the naked eye, then any magnification scope
is going to improve that, but with astronomy size isn't everything.

In fact too much magnification can be more useless than none, because
you have to remember a couple of things, not just the planet you are
looking at is magnified, shake, heat haze mirror and optical faults
are all magnified as well.

Also the greater the magnification, the less light enters the lens.


With your scope and a 9mm eyepiece you should be able to make out at
the very least mars and its polar icecaps.

I hope this helps


Looking for astro bits and pieces?
http://members.ebay.co.uk/aboutme/orpheus1959

On Sat, 23 Aug 2003 16:46:58 +0100, "Christian"
wrote:

Thx for your help I am in Exmouth
Wendy
Ok you are at
Lon 3:24:24 West
Lat 50:37:11 North
Which means at 22:30 tonight Mars will be
145 degrees (South South East) and 18 degress above the horizon

Invest in a compass, they are almost essential for stargazing

Looking for astro bits and pieces?
http://members.ebay.co.uk/aboutme/orpheus1959

On Sat, 23 Aug 2003 16:46:58 +0100, "Christian"
wrote:

Thx for your help I am in Exmouth
Wendy
Ok you are at
Lon 3:24:24 West
Lat 50:37:11 North
Which means at 22:30 tonight Mars will be
145 degrees (South South East) and 18 degress above the horizon

Invest in a compass, they are almost essential for stargazing

Looking for astro bits and pieces?
http://members.ebay.co.uk/aboutme/orpheus1959

wrote:
Invest in a compass, they are almost essential for stargazing

Essential? I suppose if you are a complete newbie and don't know east
from west... but even then you should be able to figure that out well
enough by watching the sun rise and set. And of course North can be
found from Ursa Major. I'd suggest a planisphere rather than a compass.

Clear skies,
Greg

--
Greg Crinklaw
Astronomical Software Developer
Cloudcroft, New Mexico, USA (33N, 106W, 2700m)

SkyTools Software for the Observer:
http://www.skyhound.com/cs.html

Skyhound Observing Pages:
http://www.skyhound.com/sh/skyhound.html

wrote:
Invest in a compass, they are almost essential for stargazing

Essential? I suppose if you are a complete newbie and don't know east
from west... but even then you should be able to figure that out well
enough by watching the sun rise and set. And of course North can be
found from Ursa Major. I'd suggest a planisphere rather than a compass.

Clear skies,
Greg

--
Greg Crinklaw
Astronomical Software Developer
Cloudcroft, New Mexico, USA (33N, 106W, 2700m)

SkyTools Software for the Observer:
http://www.skyhound.com/cs.html

Skyhound Observing Pages:
http://www.skyhound.com/sh/skyhound.html

wrote:
I stand by what i said, buy a compass.

Well I'm glad you do. But I disagree completely.

I think at times, people who are into astronomy lose sight of the fact
that not everyone can grasp some of the concepts straight away, we all
have to start learning somewhere.

I have been an astronomy educator for many years. I believe it is far
better to learn a bit of the sky -- such as the places where the sun
rises and sets or how to find Polaris -- than it is to fumble with a
compass. That's *my* opinion, and I'll simply restate it here rather
than make disparaging innuendoes about those who disagree...

Clear skies,
Greg

--
Greg Crinklaw
Astronomical Software Developer
Cloudcroft, New Mexico, USA (33N, 106W, 2700m)

SkyTools Software for the Observer:
http://www.skyhound.com/cs.html

Skyhound Observing Pages:
http://www.skyhound.com/sh/skyhound.html

wrote:
I stand by what i said, buy a compass.

Well I'm glad you do. But I disagree completely.

I think at times, people who are into astronomy lose sight of the fact
that not everyone can grasp some of the concepts straight away, we all
have to start learning somewhere.

I have been an astronomy educator for many years. I believe it is far
better to learn a bit of the sky -- such as the places where the sun
rises and sets or how to find Polaris -- than it is to fumble with a
compass. That's *my* opinion, and I'll simply restate it here rather
than make disparaging innuendoes about those who disagree...

Clear skies,
Greg

--
Greg Crinklaw
Astronomical Software Developer
Cloudcroft, New Mexico, USA (33N, 106W, 2700m)

SkyTools Software for the Observer:
http://www.skyhound.com/cs.html

Skyhound Observing Pages:
http://www.skyhound.com/sh/skyhound.html