Observations by Month: November
Intes/Orion 150mm Maksutov-Newtonian using a binoviewer at 180-250x. Inverted image.
Sketch made on Nov 1, 2005 between 2:30 and 3:30 UTC
CM ~234 degrees.
Transparency was poor at 3/6 Haze and smoke (! downwind of the town with chimney's a puffin') Seeing was a poor 4-5/10 most of the time.
High thin clouds moving in. Filters were used to try to identify bright patch next to Syrtis Major on eastern limb. Showed prominently with a light blue filter suggesting atmospheric obscuration/ clouds. Compare this with sketch done September 29 as face is very similar [CM's of 224 vs 234 degrees].
Gerry Smerchanski
Teulon, in Manitoba's Interlake region between Lakes Manitoba and Winnipeg.
Lat. 50.386 N Long. 97.25 W
Observer: Michael Boschat
Instrument: 11cm f/10 refractor
Magnification: 112x to 209x
Filters: #21 orange
Location: Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada
Date: November 1/2, 2005
Time: 2340 to 2345 UT
Seeing conditions: Ant.= II to III
Mars CM @ 2345 UT = 191.30
Mare Chromium appeared a bit darker than the previous night. The area of Electris was slightly a darker shade than last night.
Mars at opposition November 7th.
UT date: Nov 7 2005. 5:00 -5:30 UTC
Sketch made at 250x-300x with 150mm Intes Mak Newt with binoviewer.
No filters. Inverted view.
CM ~230 degrees, diameter 19.9"
In a previous sketch of this face, Syrtis Major was visible on the eastern (right) limb. Barely visible this time. In addition to getting a very good view of the gap between Cimmerium and Tyrrhenum and the light coloured boundary that borders them on the south (top), the other interesting feature was just how little of the SPC there is left. For much of the time it was hard to notice that it was there at all. The most rewarding part of this observation was the amount of details showing up in the usually bland northern hemisphere of Mars. In addition to several light areas, there was a prominent dark streak starting from the North polar hood and reaching half-way up towards the equator. Sky & Telescope's "Mars Profiler" shows just such a streak in that location, but doesn't identify it.
Gerry Smerchanski, Teulon, Manitoba
Nikon 990 Coolpix coupled to the Mak/Newt with a Williams Optics DCL 28mm eyepiece and a 2x zoom.
Time: 4:00-4:30 Nov 30 2005 UTC
Seeing: poor to so-so Antoniadi rating of III to IV for most of the time. Brief moments of details that required several occurrences to be sure of things.
Equipment: Celestron 235mm f/10 SCT binoviewer and 40mm eyepieces yielding a guesstimated 280-300x
Because of the larger image size of this scope (as opposed to my usual 150mm f/6 Mak Newt) I didn't realize that Mars was indeed smaller than a month ago. But what was immediately noticeable was the prominent terminator that has crept back onto the face. It gave me a anxious moment as I thought that we are running out of time to see Mars this time around and I wanted to see so much more of it. : ( The most prominent feature on the lit face was Sabaeus/ Sinus Meridiani. (centre left). There was also a very bright patch in the North Polar Hood (NPH) (bottom right). I was only able to glimpse a South Polar Cap for brief occasions. There was a long sinuous line arcing from Aurorea Sinus almost all the way to NPH. Maps show this to be the Xanthe region but I'm not sure what this feature is called . Hellas(upper left) was also prominent, as it usually is, when located on a limb. It had a definite yellow look compared to the rest of the orange view.
Because I was using an SCT this time instead of my usual Mak/Newt, the view was not the usual inverted view but was upright and reversed left-to-right. This made things look a bit strange to me and it took longer to sketch. Just one more example of how experience with viewing can help you see things: give me an image with different orientation and I had trouble seeing stuff! I have reoriented this sketch so that it matches my previous ones.
Gerry Smerchanski
Teulon, in Manitoba's Interlake region between Lakes Manitoba and Winnipeg.
Lat. 50.386 N Long. 97.25 W
Summary:
To date, November skies have yielded few clear nights, what there were have been meteorologically clear but not astronomically clear. Nights that were clear gave seeing at III to IV on the Antoniadi scale or 4/10 at best on the Pickering scale. Major details were recorded but only occasional moments of finer detail were available.
Some cloud activity was noted north of Solis Lacus and Tharsis. Due to last month's dust events, Solis Lacus itself appears notably larger and a more diffuse grayish.
As of mid November, clear nights are few and far between and seeing conditions are far from ideal but persistance is sure to yield at least one more good night.
As November winds down, the impression is that the atmosphere of Mars has become quite dusty with increased cloud formation following the dust events of late October. In moments of good seeing, the Solis Lacus region has become darker and more enlarged though less distinct. The outflow areas in southern Mare Erythraeum have become more defined with some increase in the brightness of the Chryse region.
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