My night with the 6 inch 29th / 30th Nov 05

Around 15.00 GMT on the 29th Nov while it was still light, I set up the MKAS fl2.6 6 inch refractor in my back garden and put plastic bags over the object glass dew cap and eyepiece. As on the 20l, the air was absolutely still and it was already getting cold. 19.00 GMT found me kneeling on my bit of carpet remnant behind the telescope. I should note that even now, the instrument was covered with a thin film of frozen frost. Unlike on the 20th, there was less danger of fog but it was also below freezing much earlier in the night than on the 20th/21^st. In addition the sky was darker and clearer than before. Deep sky observers would have been able to utilise the seeing more readily. From a planetary viewpoint I still enjoyed a view that approached the telescopes optical potential. Atmospheric steadiness is paramount for the planets.

With the naked eye Mars still appears like a very bright reddish brown star shining unwaveringly in the constellation of Aries. The planet is currently magnitude - 1.7 and it still far outshines the other surrounding winter stars such as Hamal magnitude +2.0 and Sheraton magnitude +2.6, the principle stars in the host constellation Aries . Even the brightest nearby star, Capella in Auriga magnitude +0.08 looked dim by comparison. Only Sirius rising later on rivalled it's brilliance although I think the planet still had the edge. Sirius's white colour certainly emphasized Mars's redness. Using my 9m/m eyepiece I turned the scope on Mars and saw once more the seeing was favourable. The planet's phase is now just detectable. What a difference a week can make! The South Polar Cap (SPC) was very small but unmistakeable. It's continued visibility despite the lateness of the Martian southern summer is doubtless helped because for the next two or three weeks the planet's South Pole will continue tilting further towards the Earth. The North Polar Hood was again much more obvious than the SPC and again there was cloud on the planets western limb, - seen as limb whitening. Mare Tyrrhenum and Mare Cimmerium were much the most prominent dark markings sprawling like giant fingers across the planet's disc. After finishing with Mars and completing my drawing

After opposition      MARS

Date 29?11/2005 U.T 19 20