Really blew my mind last night. Even on small scopes you can see incredible detail. South Polar Cap is clearly visable and anything above a 4" or so scope you will be able to discern the crater of Elysium Mons, a volcano, even huge impact craters one of which is the Schiparelli crater, one of the biggest on Mars. Conditions may vary depending on whats going on on Mars at the time, but last night was pretty good. If you dont own a scope, theres a good chance in your area a local astronomy club will be having viewing nights over the next two weeks. These are great opportunites to get out and see Mars, mostly because these folks will have great equipment or high power optics they made themselves. They also love showing off and showing what their stuff can do. Plus its completely free.
Anyway thanks for letting me geek out for that paragraph I was an astronomy minor in college and worked with some big 2 meter scopes in Arizona for a while, so admittedly I get pretty reved up over stuff like this. But really, do what you can to see it over the next month. You wont be disappointed.
Anyway thanks for letting me geek out for that paragraph I was an astronomy minor in college and worked with some big 2 meter scopes in Arizona for a while, so admittedly I get pretty reved up over stuff like this. But really, do what you can to see it over the next month. You wont be disappointed.
