Re: [Utah-astronomy] Mars
Thanks for the pointers. I live right between Little C and Big C, but haven't headed up for observing. I usually see too much turbulence as indicated by cloud cover. But sometimes you just get desperate. -----Original Message----- From: Canopus56 <canopus56@yahoo.com> Sent: Oct 30, 2005 5:09 PM To: Utah Astronomy <utah-astronomy@mailman.xmission.com> Subject: Re: [Utah-astronomy] Mars --- Michael Carnes <MichaelCarnes@earthlink.net> wrote:
Kurt, just out of curiousity, where in the canyon do you go? mc
If the weather breaks, I'm trying for higher altitude, maybe in Big Cottonwood
None of these are premium sites. I go there rarely, because of headlights on the road, because the Wasatch make their own weather, and because the mountains disrupt laminar wind flow aloft. But, if I want altitude and am not in the mood to drive - 1) Big Cottonwood - Redman Campground turn-off. 2) Big Cottonwood - If the Brighton ski resort lights are off, in any pocket in circle that does not have direct light. 3) Little Cottonwood - with a cheaper scope transported in a trash bag for dust protection - Albion Basin. 4) If the Millcreek Road is open, the Upper Little Water Parking Lot, for zenithal objects. Mars should also be visible there tonight, but the road signs say they lock the gate on Nov. 1, so who knows. 5) Emigration Canyon - Little Mtn. Pass. December and February are the best times because the light pollution is lower than in summer. I have seen the morning gegenschien in February at Little Mtn. Pass for several years. Also bright comets usually resolve well at the flats in Emigration at the turn-out 1/2 mile around the corner from Ruths. Most often for a quick look on brighter non-DSOs (planets and double stars), I go into the semi-dark pocket in East Canyon, into one of the turnoffs between the reservior parking lot and the gate on the East Canyon highway that they close during the winter. Otherwise and more often, it's the longer drive to the gravel pit road, the Unita's or the West desert. - Canopus56(Kurt) __________________________________ Yahoo! Mail - PC Magazine Editors' Choice 2005 http://mail.yahoo.com _______________________________________________ Utah-Astronomy mailing list Utah-Astronomy@mailman.xmission.com http://mailman.xmission.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/utah-astronomy Visit the Photo Gallery: http://www.utahastronomy.com
Last night I went up to Little Mtn. Pass to see if altitude (about 7100ft) would improve the seeing over the city (about 4100ft). Although there was a 3 mph surface wind, the seeing was Antonaidi II - slight undulatations, with moments of calm lasting for several seconds. On a five count, 4 in 5 of the counts were calm seeing. Retesting back at home in the city, the seeing was Antonaidi III - Moderate seeing, with larger air tremors - or IV - Constant troublesome undulations. On a five count, 2 out of 5 were calm seeing. Looks like the altitude change did make a difference. All-in-all, a serene closest approach passage of Mars. I was going to drive out SPOC at transit, but I got hooked into giving club member Kim Jongwon a basic Messier and double tour with his 10" Meade DOB. - Canopus56(Kurt) --- Michael Carnes <michaelcarnes@earthlink.net> wrote:
Thanks for the pointers. I live right between Little C and Big C, but haven't headed up for observing. I usually see too much turbulence as indicated by cloud cover. But sometimes you just get desperate.
-----Original Message----- From: Canopus56 <canopus56@yahoo.com> Sent: Oct 30, 2005 5:09 PM To: Utah Astronomy <utah-astronomy@mailman.xmission.com> Subject: Re: [Utah-astronomy] Mars
5) Emigration Canyon - Little Mtn. Pass. December and February are the best times because the light pollution is lower than in summer.
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Or lack of heat plumes from thousands of structures... --- Canopus56 <canopus56@yahoo.com> wrote:
Looks like the altitude change did make a difference.
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I appreciate the beiefing on seeing. But how did Mars look? Thanks, Joe
--- Joe Bauman <bau@desnews.com> wrote:
I appreciate the beiefing on seeing. But how did Mars look? Thanks, Joe
I was using a club loaner 6" Meade DOB. Mr. Jongwong (Kim) was using a 10" Meade DOB. Since we did not have equatorial tracking, the smallest practical lens we could use was a 4mm with a broadband LPR filter at around 275x (assuming an 1100mm f/l for these scopes). Higher magnifications appeared possible, but the constraint of drift limited increasing magnification with a Barlow. The LPR reduced Mars's glare and brought out surface color. Views with a 9mm lens and without a filter (120x) also gave good detail, but with an undersized TFOV for Mars's disk. The views were pretty similar to what is seen in the S&T Mars Simulator, with less contrast detail between the surface albedo of the features. For example, Hellas Basin was not visible as a distinct feature. The macro features at around 1:00am remain Syrtis Major, Sinus Meridiani and the north polar cap. During moments of calm, details in Sinus Meridiani on Mars's apparent central meridian would snap into focus around the 1-2 arcsec diffraction limit for these scopes. But the level of detail was nothing like what is seen during similar moments of calm in the SLAS's 32" with a 1/4" diffraction limit. The LPR filter at 275x adds a rusted color to the prevailing surface soils of Mars. I had the impression I was looking at a giant bowl of rusted sand, with some darker continental plates sticking out above the lower elevations filled with oxidized soil. The general east-west orientation of these higher continental masses make me wonder what the boundaries of the Martian tetonic plates look like - back when the archaean Mars was tetonically active. The most inspirational part of watching Mars for an about hour is the real sense that you are looking at another planet which re-enforces that you are standing on a planet. Although I suspect most people after 5 minutes go "seen that, done that, been there." It's one thing to be told that you live a planet, to look at models of the solar system when you are kid, and another thing to directly experience it in the eyepiece. The session charged me up to try and observe,as the season progresses, in the early morning before sunrise to see what other features rotate into view. I looked again at about 3:00 when Syrtis Major was starting to rotate out of view. Confirming a recent hoax internet email, at 275x, Mars indeed does look about as large as Moon seen with the naked-eye. -:) Unfortunately, the rovers were not visible. -:) - Canopus56(Kurt) __________________________________ Yahoo! Mail - PC Magazine Editors' Choice 2005 http://mail.yahoo.com
Really nice report, Kurt. The next time I get a chance I want to try and photograph Mars with a Barlow, which I didn't think of using last time! Calmness or turbulence of the atmosphere is a vital factor, I think. Thanks again, Joe
participants (4)
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Canopus56 -
Chuck Hards -
Joe Bauman -
Michael Carnes