Beginner Astronomy – Part X – Observing Mars Mars is our nearest planetary neighbour (at least until September, when Mercury is closer), and perhaps our next home as well. Depending on where we are in our orbits, it competes with Venus and Mercury for closest position. It’s about half the diameter of Earth, and about twice the diameter of the Moon. Mars has been the subject of speculation for centuries. When Giovanni Schiapiarelli drew his map of Mars, he mistakenly observed the dark lines as being channels – canali in Italian. The anglification of the word “canali” became “canals”, which led to the thought of life on Mars, and the global-scale engineering works they might be performing. With subsequent maps of the red planet, and finally in visiting there with our robotic scouts, we have discovered that there are, in fact, no canals, no life (as far as we know), and no liquid water at the surface. Mars is easily visible as a bright red object, rising shortly before sunset, and can be seen fairly well with even a modest telescope. With good seeing, you may even see the polar ice cap. Due to its small angular size, observing Mars requires quite a bit of magnification. Unfortunately, higher magnification requires a very steady mount, very clear seeing, and quite a bit of light coming into your scope. To enhance your view of Mars, use a high-powered eyepiece (smaller focal length) for high magnification, and a red or orange filter should help to remove the obscuring and distracting blue wavelengths. See if you can spot some of Mars’ major features; the polar ice cap, the general shape of the Hellas Planitia, Valles Marineris, or Mons Olympus. If you can’t see those features (which require more and more magnification), give yourself another challenge; see if you can see Schiapiarelli’s canali. Schiapiarelli’s map bit.ly/1jR598Q Kevin M. Gill’s interpretation of a green and growing Mars bit.ly/1mBoF9I Raw images from Mars Opportunity 1.usa.gov/TbRwHf
Posted on: Fri, 16 May 2014 19:42:11 +0000
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