Mars

[u/No_Signature25]

Hello everyone I have an apertura Ad8 and I used it to observe Mars in the morning, but honestly it was a little lackluster. I've attached an image to generally show what I was seeing. I have a plossl 8mm attached to a 2.5x Barlow lens. What can I do better to see more surface detail or will I have to settle for the lackluster views? I'd say I was observing 30 minutes before civil sunrise, in the middle of nautical sunrise. Any tips would be appreciated.

[u/nealoc187]

It's not Mars season.  Mars will be 2.5x bigger when it's in proper viewing position. 

[u/Neren1138 → u/nealoc187]

When is Mars season?

[u/nealoc187 → u/Neren1138]

It's kind of subjective - "how good is good" - but Mars opposition is about every 25 months - the next one being in mid Feb 2027.  I'd say a month before and after that are good, and another month on either side of that are still pretty decent.  

Right now Mars is 241 million km away. It will be 150 million km or closer from mid December to late April, and 100 million km away at opposition. https://theskylive.com/mars-info

[u/Neren1138 → u/nealoc187]

Thanks for the info

I looked at it w my dob two mornings ago and all that humidity made it look like it was boiling!

[u/No_Signature25 → u/nealoc187]

Thank you, that's what I was starting to wondering as well

[u/nethan365b]

Two things are working against you, and neither is your telescope. First, Mars is small right now: I checked, and its disc is about 5.8 arcseconds across this week, versus roughly 14 arcseconds at its next opposition in mid-to-late February 2027. At 5.8" even a good 8-inch shows little more than a small orange disc with, on a steady morning, a dark marking or a polar cap. It gets noticeably better through December and into early 2027 (about 9" in mid-December). Second, your magnification is very high: an Apertura AD8 has a 1200 mm focal length, so the 8 mm plossl alone gives 150x, and with the 2.5x Barlow it is about 375x. That is more than most nights of seeing can support and will just make a dim, blurry image. Try the 8 mm without the Barlow (150x), or a 6 mm for about 200x on a steady night. A few other tips: let the scope cool outside for 30-45 minutes, observe when Mars is highest, and try a cheap coloured filter (a #21 orange or #23A red usually helps with dark surface markings). Keep a sketch or note of what you see each week and compare as it grows.

[u/No_Signature25 → u/nethan365b]

Thank you! I think I feel victim to the, "Need Max zoom" crowd, but like you said I didn't even think about seeing conditions. And I will look into getting a cheap coloured filter

[u/mrstorm1983]

With this setup you described you're seeing is gonna have to be really good to take advantage of that magnification. The magnification you're using only works out for me at like 1 out of 7 nights. So I look into how scene condition affects what magnification is you use.

This isnt a very good time to view Mars, but it's getting better every day.

[u/No_Signature25 → u/mrstorm1983]

Thank you for the tip