Seeing had improved slightly by last night, as the humidity was lower and the moon was further away, but the atmosphere was still wiggley. The martian image, however was very bright, so I got out the filters for colorimetric analysis.
The image at right is a 1/4 second exposure taken through a violet filter on the 6 mm ortho lens, providing 450x magnification. The light blank area on the right side is Amazonis Planitia. Mount Olympus, the giant volcano, isn't visible, but is located just north (down and right) of the center.
Left is a similar image, made through a red filter instead. The entire northern hemisphere seems to be very dusty, perhaps a large storm is raging there, as Mars evaporated much of it's southern ice cap, the white oval at the top left of the planet. Notice the dark region on the left side of the cap (near 90 degrees longitude) This was barely noticible two weeks ago, but is now very prominant. This red light image enhances the darkening, leading me to believe it may be greenish.
Friday night, the monsoon clouds had dissipated enough that I could see Mars in the sky:
A nearly full moon followed the planet through the sky, illuminating the haze that remained. The haze was not only in the sky, it was condensing on anything I had brought from the air conditioned house, so I kept the eyepiece in my pocket for a while and fanned the obnjective lens of the 7" Maksutov telescope.
When I finally got a look at Mars the view was amazing, not so much for the detail, but the sheer size of the planet's disc. This is the largest I have ever seen any planet, except Venus. The detail was fantastic, but hard to see. The moonlight reflected off the visible atmosphere reduced the contrast and atmospheric movement spoiled the 'seeing'. This photo is a 1/15 second exposure through a 6 mm orthoscopic eyepiece. The large dark part in the lower central area is Margaritafer Terra. I hope the party's going well.
