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Mars (Planet, est. mag -1.54, est. to be in Gemini)
Observer: Michael Amato (e-mail: abigmick@aol.com)
Instrument: 127-mm other Location: West Haven, Connecticut, United States
Light pollution: moderate Transparency: fair Seeing: fair
Time: Thu Dec 13 01:30:00 2007 UT Obs. no.: 1744
Last evening I observed mars with my 127mm MAK. This time Sinus Sebaeus was the area facing my scope. The limb haze still seems to be on one side and the north polar hood continues to be white in color. I noticed during Mars' last three close encounters the NPH has been rather slow to lift. I believe this indicates Mars may also be experiancing global warming. I also noticed the southern ice cap melts faster and virtually disappears. This was not the case years ago when I observed Mars. Now here is food for thought. The last time I observed Jupiter's little red spot it occured to me that the reason it formed is because Jupiter is also warming up. Storms form as a result of warming temperatures thus the formation of the LRS. Could it be because the sun is changing???
Mars (Planet, est. mag -1, est. to be in Gemini)
Observer: Michael Amato (e-mail: abigmick@aol.com)
Instrument: 127-mm other Location: West Haven, Connecticut, United States
Light pollution: moderate Transparency: good Seeing: excellent
Time: Fri Dec 7 02:15:00 2007 UT Obs. no.: 1742
This evening my brother Anthony and I observed Mars with my 127mm MAK. The seeing was stupendous when we put the scope on Mars. We could clearly see and identify the dark areas of Mars. In the southern hemishere we were able to identify Mare Australe, Mare Erythraeum, Aurorae Sinus, Mararitifer Sinus and Oxia Patus. In the northern hemishere we had a clear view of Niliacus Lacus. The north polar hood now looks completely white after many months of being blue. We also had a great view of the limb haze. I can't remember when I saw Mars this clearly. We also took advantage of the great seeing to observe M42 The Orion Nebula. M42 really stood out and and we were able to see some very fine tendrils. The whole nebula had a greenish tinge to it. We then got my night vision scope in order to observe Comet 17P/Holmes. This scope is only 1.5X but it shows the comet as almost a tear drop shape. A night vision scope is a great second instrument to have in a backyard observatory. Later this month another comet will gace our skies at about 5th magnitude and I will have my night vision scope all ready for it also.
Mars (Planet, est. mag -.8, est. to be in Gemini)
Observer: Michael Amato (e-mail: abigmick@aol.com)
Instrument: 127-mm other Location: West Haven, Connecticut, United States
Light pollution: moderate Transparency: fair Seeing: good
Time: Thu Nov 8 04:15:00 2007 UT Obs. no.: 1734
This evening I observed Mars with my 127mm MAK. As Joe Caggiano said in his latest post Mars' features are now appearing better. While I was observing Syrtis Major I suddenly saw it become a blue color. This means I was able to see the famous blue clearing of Mars in Syrtis Major. Joe also mentioned the north polar region as both the polar hood and ice cap. Thats the impression I get also. I think the polar hood may be dissapating very slowly which is allowing the ice cap to slowly emerge into view. Earlier in the evening my brother Anthony and I observed Comet 17P/Holmes with my 10X50 binoculars. As the comet grows in size the color of it seems to have changed from pale green about two weeks ago to pale blue now. I am in my glory observing Mars and the comet.
Mars (Planet, est. mag -0.76, est. to be in Gemini)
Observer: Joe Caggiano (e-mail: jcaggiano@mindspring.com, web: http://home.mindspring.com/~jcaggiano/)
Instrument: 10-inch Dobsonian reflector Location: Glenside, Pa, USA
Light pollution: light Transparency: excellent Seeing: excellent
Time: Wed Nov 7 07:00:00 2007 UT Obs. no.: 1733
Viewed Mars last night with a new 5x Apo barlow for some incredible views. Starting around 11:00 PM there was nothing more to see than a bright orange blob. Every hour the night wore on the image became exceedingly better. By 2:00 AM I could clearly see 2 major land masses as well as the polar cap and hood. Visually, I used a 40mm and a 25mm ep with the 5x barlow for 150x and 240x respectively. Using the camera, I was easily over 500x. I have posted pics on my website.
Mars (Planet, est. mag -.6, est. to be in Gemini)
Observer: Michael Amato (e-mail: abigmick@aol.com)
Instrument: 127-mm other Location: West Haven, Connecticut, United States
Light pollution: moderate Transparency: fair Seeing: fair
Time: Fri Nov 2 04:30:00 2007 UT Obs. no.: 1729
Just after midnight I observed Mars with my 127mm MAK. The first thing I noticed was Mars' north polar ice cap was showing. This means the north polar hood has desolved. Like Joe Caggiano mentioned in the previous post I too am having difficulty seeing the dark albedo features on Mars. I may have seen the white area of the Hallas Basin but I can't be sure. I think there may still be some dust lingering in Mars' atmosphere. Before dawn I arose again to take my first look at Saturn. I can now see part of Saturn's northern hemisphere as Saturn's rings become closer to edge on. I couuld not see any features on Saturn yet. It's still a long way from opposition. Finally I also took a look at Venus. It looks like Venus' waxing face is now about half lit. I also observed some light albedo shading in the equitorial region of Venus
Mars (Planet, est. mag -1.8, est. to be in Gemini)
Observer: Michael Amato (e-mail: abigmick@aol.com)
Instrument: 127-mm other Location: West Haven, Connecticut, United States
Light pollution: moderate Transparency: fair Seeing: fair
Time: Mon Oct 29 04:15:00 2007 UT Obs. no.: 1725
Early this morning I observed Mars and the Orion Nebula with my 127mm MAK. Mars' dark features are showing better as Mars draws closer to earth. I also saw limb haze on one end of Mars. Mars is about 90% waxing gibbous. The Orion Nebula has a nice greenish tinge to it. Even bright moonlight didn't stop me from seeing Orion in all its glory. Earlier I took another look at Comet 17P/Holmes in my 10x50 binoculars. This comet is huge even in binos. It looks stellar to the naked eye. With good weather coming this week I will be observing Mars and Comet Holmes all week long.
Mars (Planet, est. mag -0.6, est. to be in Gemini)
Observer: Joe Caggiano (e-mail: jcaggiano@mindspring.com, web: http://home.mindspring.com/~jcaggiano/)
Instrument: 10-inch Dobsonian reflector Location: Glenside, Pa, USA
Light pollution: light Transparency: excellent Seeing: excellent
Time: Sun Oct 28 08:00:00 2007 UT Obs. no.: 1728
Mars' distance continues to shrink. The polar cap was easily visible but I did expect alittle more surface detail and albedo markings. At the time of my viewing, Mars was 11.83" arcseconds diameter and a mere 0.75 AU from Earth. This corrolates to 69.75 Million miles. That's 20 million less than my previous posting just a ew weeks ago. Mars' magnitude is -0.6. At it's brightest in late Decmber, only the moon and Venus will outshine it. I have posted pics on my website.
Mars (Planet, est. mag -.2, est. to be in Gemini)
Observer: Michael Amato (e-mail: abigmick@aol.com)
Instrument: 127-mm other Location: West Haven, Connecticut, United States
Light pollution: moderate Transparency: fair Seeing: fair
Time: Sun Oct 14 04:45:00 2007 UT Obs. no.: 1719
Early this morning I observed Mars with my 127mm MAK. The dark features on Mars are now getting easier to see. I was able to see and identify Syrtis Major. Also the north polar hood is becoming more pronounced. In my last report about Mars I misidentified it as the south polar hood. That was the first time I ever made a mistake in my entire life.
Mars (Planet, est. mag -0.17, est. to be in Gemini)
Observer: Joe Caggiano (e-mail: jcaggiano@mindspring.com, web: http://home.mindspring.com/~jcaggiano/)
Instrument: 10-inch Dobsonian reflector Location: Glenside, Pa, USA
Light pollution: moderate Transparency: good Seeing: good
Time: Tue Oct 2 07:30:00 2007 UT Obs. no.: 1717
Got my first real good viewing of Mars this season. It was also my first viewing with my new 10" scope. Using my binoviewers and a 2x barlow as well as a 1.9x, I managed to slow my scope down to f/17.9. The surface details were subtle but clearly there. On Mars' left limb was a blueish-white hooded polar cap. On the right limb extending from the 3:00 to the 6:00 position was a large mass which turned out to be Syrtis Major. The surface setail was a light tan on a peach-colored disk (except for the polar cap. Mars is currently 10.1 arcseconds in size and is a distance of just under 90 million miles away (0.967 AU) and quickly closing. It currently shines at magnitude -0.17. Opposition is on December 24 of this year. I have posted a picture on my website.
Mars (Planet, est. mag .2, est. to be in Taurus)
Observer: Michael Amato (e-mail: abigmick@aol.com)
Instrument: 127-mm other Location: West Haven, Connecticut, United States
Light pollution: moderate Transparency: fair Seeing: fair
Time: Thu Sep 20 04:45:00 2007 UT Obs. no.: 1711
Early this morning I observed Mars with my 127mm MAK. As the dust on Mars slowly continues to settle and Mars continues to draw closer to Earth I find I can see more albedo shadings om Mars. There also appears to be a polar hood developing on the south pole. Mars is about 80% waxing gibbous also. I also got up just before dawn to observe Venus. Venus is now about 20% waxing crescent. This time I was not able to see any albedo shading on Venus. Later on in the morning I also observed the sun with my sunspotter Solar Telescope. The sun's face is still completely blank. No spots at all.
Mars (Planet, est. mag 02, est. to be in Taurus)
Observer: Michael Amato (e-mail: abigmick@aol.com)
Instrument: 127-mm other Location: West Haven, Connecticut, United States
Light pollution: moderate Transparency: fair Seeing: fair
Time: Thu Sep 13 04:45:00 2007 UT Obs. no.: 1709
Early this morning I observed Mars with my 127mm MAK. I am now able to observe more albedo markings which shows the martian dust storm is winding down. Also Mars is looking more orangy to the naked eye which also indicates the storm is slowly winding down. I then attached my Star Spectroscope to observe the bright star Aldebaran. Aldebaran shows three spectral lines which means it's an old cool star. However, Aldebaran is not as old or as cool as Betelgeuse, with seven spectral lines, and Antares with four spectral lines. With a 32mm eyepiece I compared and contrasted the two open clusters The Hyades and The Pleiades. The Pleiades contain mostly young blue stars with nebulousity showing around The Pleiades' bright stars while the Hyades contain mostly yellow older stars with no nebulousity.
Mars (Planet, est. mag .3, est. to be in Taurus)
Observer: Michael Amato (e-mail: abigmick@aol.com)
Instrument: 127-mm other Location: West Haven, Connecticut, United States
Light pollution: moderate Transparency: fair Seeing: fair
Time: Wed Sep 5 05:15:00 2007 UT Obs. no.: 1707
This morning I observed Mars with my 127mm MAK. It looks like the duststorm is really starting to wind down as reported by other amateur astronomers. I am now able to see some dark features on Mars and I think I can see what's left of the south polar ice cap. Mars is now starting to look yellow orange in color with the naked eye. This is also an indication of the duststorm weakening. Mars is also about 85% waxing gibbous. Just before sunrise I got up to observe Venus. Venus is now about 15% waxing crescent. The slim crescent of Venus looks exactly like the letter C. I also saw some faint albedo markings on the lit part of Venus. Later in the morning I completed my trifecta by observing the sun with my Sunspotter Solar Telescope. There are no sunspots on the face of the sun today.
Mars (Planet, est. mag .3, est. to be in Taurus)
Observer: Michael Amato (e-mail: abigmick@aol.com)
Instrument: 127-mm other Location: West Haven, Connecticut, United States
Light pollution: moderate Transparency: fair Seeing: fair
Time: Mon Aug 27 06:30:00 2007 UT Obs. no.: 1702
Early this morning I observed Mars with my 127mm MAK. The waxing gibbous phase on Mars is about 75%. While the dust storm has weakened slightly the yellow color caused by the dust storm is still very obvious. Aldebaran next to Mars has a more orangy look to it. Through the dust I can barely make out hints of Mars' dark regions. Anyone with even the naked eye can check to see if the dust storm is weakening my comparing the color of Mars with the color of Aldebaran.
Mars (Planet, est. mag .6, est. to be in Aries)
Observer: Michael Amato (e-mail: abigmick@aol.com)
Instrument: 127-mm other Location: West Haven, Connecticut, United States
Light pollution: moderate Transparency: fair Seeing: fair
Time: Thu Jul 26 07:30:00 2007 UT Obs. no.: 1685
This morning I observed Mars with my 127mm MAK. Mars continues to look bright yellow in both my scope and my naked eye. This means the dust storm is still going strong on the 70% waxing gibbous planet. One encouraging thing is I can now glimpse some Martian features through the dust storm. The reason may be the dust storm easing or Mars is getting closer or maybe a combination of both reasons. The first sign that the Martian dust storm is ending will be when the bright yellow color of Mars will start to have an orange tinge to it, even with the naked eye.
Mars (Planet, est. mag -.5, est. to be in Pisces)
Observer: Michael Amato (e-mail: abigmick@aol.com)
Instrument: 127-mm other Location: West Haven, Connecticut, United States
Light pollution: moderate Transparency: fair Seeing: fair
Time: Sun Jul 8 07:30:00 2007 UT Obs. no.: 1678
Early this morning I observed Mars with my 127mm MAK. It appears to me the global dust storm on Mars may be starting to weaken. The bright yellow color on Mars is not as bright yellow with my scope or with my naked eye. I also see tinges of light orange on the planet now. Make no mistake the dust storm is still going strong. We will see if it continues to weaken. I also observed the sun this morning with my Sunspotter Solar Telescope. A brand new sunspot, #963 has just emerged from the sun's east limb. This spot looks like it could possibly send out a CME in the next few days. We'll see what happens then also.
Mars (Planet, est. mag -.5, est. to be in Taurus)
Observer: Michael Amato (e-mail: abigmick@aol.com)
Instrument: 127-mm other Location: West Haven, Connecticut, United States
Light pollution: moderate Transparency: fair Seeing: fair
Time: Tue Jul 3 07:15:00 2007 UT Obs. no.: 1676
Other amateur astronomers have reported and photographed a growing dust storm on Mars. With this in mind I got up before sunrise to observe Mars with my 127mm MAK. In my scope Mars' 65% percent waxing gibbous phase looks bright yellow to me. The disc is now large enough so I should have been able to see some albedo spots on Mars. I think that Mars being so bright yellow in my scope and with my naked eye indicates that the dust storm may be planet wide. Other astronomers with bigger scopes will have to answer that question. Also I couldn't see the south polar cap because it has shrunk so fast from a month ago. Mars is now at its closest to the sun and that would probably explain the dust storm and rapidly melting ice cap. I also observed the sun this morning with my Sunspotter Solar Telescope. Sunspot #961 still looks quiet and it will probably rotate off the sun's face in about four or five days.
Mars (Planet)
Observer: Lee S (e-mail: nospam-laspain123@aol.com, web: http://cgi.tripod.com/astro-cracker/cgi-bin/YaBB.pl)
Instrument: 2.8-inch refractor Location: Atlanta, GA, USA
Light pollution: severe Transparency: good Seeing: good
Time: Sun Mar 5 02:15:00 2006 UT Obs. no.: 1504
Tonight I caught Mars sneaking away like a thief. He was acting nonchalant and sauntering away up in the general neighborhood of Taurus and Pleiades. I thought it a little suspicious the way he was kind of trying to fade away into the crowd. I put the 70mm Observer on his case to check him out. Even during the Mars opposition this fall, it was tough to make out any surface detail. Tonight, he remained a mystery. With a 9mm Plossl and even a 5mm Plossl, I couldn't make out any surface detail. I could only tell that he was a planet and there was a little color. Soon, I was distracted by streetlights pressing in on my periphery. So, Mars got away tonight. But, I suspect that he'll be back another year. I'll be ready for him with a larger telescope when he shows up.For more information on observing Mars with small scopes (60-70mm refractors) and reflectors of up to about 114mm, please feel free to join us on the 60mm Astronomy Forum ( http://cgi.tripod.com/astro-cracker/cgi-bin/YaBB.pl ). We gave Mars our best shot a few months ago and even have some pictures.
Mars (Planet, est. mag 4, est. to be in Taurus)
Observer: Joe Caggiano (e-mail: jcaggiano@mindspring.com, web: http://home.mindspring.com/~jcaggiano/)
Instrument: 70-mm binoculars Location: Glenside, Pa, USA
Light pollution: light Transparency: excellent Seeing: excellent
Time: Mon Feb 20 03:00:00 2006 UT Obs. no.: 1498
Viewed Mars and the Pleadies with the binos. At 15x they appeared in the same FOV. Mars ruddy red color was still very bright and I could just about make out that it was still a disk and not just a pinpoint (like a star). The Pleadies yeilded about 6 dozen stars tonight. Many more could be seen through the scope.
Mars (Planet, est. mag -1.0, est. to be in Aries)
Observer: Michael Amato (e-mail: abigmick@aol.com)
Instrument: 127-mm other Location: West Haven, Connecticut, United States
Light pollution: moderate Transparency: fair Seeing: fair
Time: Wed Dec 21 22:00:00 2005 UT Obs. no.: 1446
This evening, I observed Mars with my 127mm MAK. Mars is really shrinking in size and it is becoming a waning gibbous. However, there are still things to observe on Mars. The north polar cap is now in view now that the north polar hood has disapated. On the eastern edge of the planet, I was able to see considerable limb haze and a thicker cloudy area. The Hallas Basin is also showing as a white area near the south pole. For the past couple of weeks it has been reported that the southern hemisphere has considerable dust and haze in the air. Because of this, the dark areas have a fuzzy look about them. I didn't realize why the dark areas looked fuzzy until I read the article.
Mars (Planet, est. mag -0.1, est. to be in Aries)
Observer: Michael Amato (e-mail: abigmick@aol.com)
Instrument: 127-mm other Location: West Haven, Connecticut, United States
Light pollution: moderate Transparency: fair Seeing: good
Time: Mon Dec 12 22:30:00 2005 UT Obs. no.: 1433
This Evening, I observed Mars with my 127mm MAK. The first thing I noticed was how very white the Hallas Basin is. It is really standing out now. Syrtis Major was also easy to see. Also the north polar cap is now in view. Since Mars' north polar region is not tilted toward us, only a small portion of the north polar cap is in view.As we pull away from Mars, it is easy to see how the size of the planet is shrinking.
Mars (Planet, est. mag -2, est. to be in Aries)
Observer: Michael Amato (e-mail: abigmick@aol.com)
Instrument: 127-mm other Location: West Haven, Connecticut, United States
Light pollution: moderate Transparency: fair Seeing: fair
Time: Sun Nov 20 00:00:00 2005 UT Obs. no.: 1403
This evening, I observed Mars with my 127mm MAK.I observed some dark areas on Mars which I could not identify. The north polar hood is still in place and it is mostly white with a slight tinge of blue in it. The eastern limb of Mars had significant limb haze that extended from the north polar hood down to about the equator. The western limb of Mars showed no limb haze. Later on, I observed Saturn. The only feature I saw was the dark looking north polar hood. I also saw to moons of Saturn.
Mars (Planet, est. mag -2, est. to be in Aries)
Observer: Joe Caggiano (e-mail: jcaggiano@mindspring.com)
Instrument: 6-inch equatorial reflector Location: Glenside, Pa, USA
Light pollution: light Transparency: excellent Seeing: excellent
Time: Fri Nov 18 01:15:00 2005 UT Obs. no.: 1402
My viewing of Mars last night was phenominal! Starting at 5:15 PM, I spied Venus still pretty high in the southwest but my neighbors trees (at about 100 ft. tall) still blocked it. I had to view through the branches. Venus was VERY bright and appeared in a Gibbous phase. Since I was waiting for Mars, I took a shot of it (again, through the trees so it looks like the image was chewed aroung the edges) and put it on my website. This is Venus at 203x. Afterwards I moved on to Mars. For 3 hours I viewed Mars and tried time and again to get a good shot of it. Frustration continually built with the neighbors and their backyard lights, another neighbors constantly barking dog and my telehpone ringing. Finally I went inside about 7:30 because the image was still low enough over my roof that it was still boiling. At 8:15 I came out and viewed. AWESOME is an understatement. I pushed the power up to 406x with a barlow lens and actually got a decent shot (also on my webpage). The South Polar Cap was visible, though fleeting. The whole Southern Hemisphere was again shrouded in a blue hood. Mare Cronium all the way to Margaritifer Sinus was visible including Protei Regio, Mare Erythraeum and Argyroporus as the dark regions. In the peach-colored Northern Hemisphere, I saw Mnemonia Tharsis, Tempe, and Tractus Albus. I waited 3 hours to see that view and I would do it again in a heartbeat. I now have the best picture of Mars I have taken for the next 13 years! Quite a memorable occasion. The pics can be viewed at HTTP://home.mindspring.com/~jcaggiano/joeshomepage/index.html.
Mars (Planet, est. mag -2.1, est. to be in Aries)
Observer: Michael Amato (e-mail: abigmick@aol.com)
Instrument: 127-mm other Location: West Haven, Connecticut, United States
Light pollution: moderate Transparency: fair Seeing: fair
Time: Mon Nov 14 00:15:00 2005 UT Obs. no.: 1398
This evening, I observed Mars with my 127mm MAK. I believe the land features I observed were Mare Erythraeum, Margaritieer Sinus and Mare Acidalium. It looks like the north polar hood has increased again. Its colar is almost bluish white. Up to now, I thought it had completely disapated. There was very little limb haze visible. On the night before the moon Mars conjunction, I measured 14 degrees of separation between them with my alledade. We'll see how close they come together tomorrow.
Mars (Planet, est. mag -2.1, est. to be in Aries)
Observer: Michael Amato (e-mail: abigmick@aol.com)
Instrument: 127-mm other Location: West Haven, Connecticut, United States
Light pollution: moderate Transparency: fair Seeing: fair
Time: Fri Nov 11 00:30:00 2005 UT Obs. no.: 1396
This evening, I observed Mars with my 127mm MAK. with a red filter, I observed the dark regions Aonis Sinus and Bosporos. The very bright area near the south pole was Argyre. It was showing very well. With a green filter, I was able to see some limb haze and the small section of the north polar cap that is tipped favorbly towards us.
Mars (Planet, est. mag -2.1, est. to be in Aries)
Observer: Michael Amato (e-mail: abigmick@aol.com)
Instrument: 127-mm other Location: West Haven, Connecticut, United States
Light pollution: moderate Transparency: fair Seeing: poor
Time: Tue Nov 8 01:00:00 2005 UT Obs. no.: 1394
This evening, I observed Mars with my 127mm MAK. The front tip of the north polar ice cap is still visible. If the northern hemishere was tipped our way, we would be able to see a huge polar cap. With a green filter, I also observed a large patch of clouds on Mars' eastern limb. I thought I also saw a cloudy patch near the south pole of Mars. Limb haze was easily seen on both the eastern and western limbs of Mars. I believe I saw Mare Cimmerium and Mare Sirenim with a red filter.
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