Mars
Last night, shortly after midnight, I spent about half an hour gazing at Mars through my Edmunds Astroscan. (I've had this little scope for over 15 years now, Margaret got it for me for a birthday in the mid-80s; it's a fine little scope and has held up well to neglect over the years. The focuser is a little sticky, but it's still remarkably easy to operate. Scopes were a lot more expensive then than they are now -- no computer-guiding back then.)
Though Mars is low in my southern sky, viewing was still pretty good. Berkely and Oakland are to my South, so there's a lot of light pollution, and a lot of shimmering in the air. And my eyes aren't what they were back in my astronomical heyday, so it took a lot of viewing. It's worth it to stare for a long time -- that's one thing most people don't understand. With the air shimmering and the need to get your eyes good and dark-adapted, you can't really see anything in just a few minutes. You need to wait for those brief moments of clear air.
Anyway, last night I could see the dark spot of Syrtis Major very well. It was a real treat. Around here we get a lot of fog in the evening, so summer is not always the best time to view. It was really fun. Over the next couple days I'm going to give the Astroscan a good cleaning, and also dig out my Coulter Dobsonian 8" telescope. It probably needs collimation, which I've never done, but it should be fun.
I hope to get out to see Mars several times over the next few weeks as it approaches us on August 27, and then as it recedes, it should still be nice to see, and positioned better for earlier evening viewing.
10:37:16 AM Permalink
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