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Mars (Planet, est. mag -2, 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: Mon Nov 23 23:45:00 2020 UT Obs. no.: 2219
Last evening, my brother Anthony & I observed several objects beginning with two planets. Even though Mars is now shrinking in size, we were still able to see several land features. The north polar hood is still very obvious. We also viewed so called Dwarf Planet Ceres which looked like a tiny blue orb. We managed to observe edge on galaxy NGC7331. It had a bright core with faint wings along side it. We also viewed globular cluster M15, several open clusters & eleven double stars. Finally, this morning, we observed the sun with our solar equipment. There were three sunspot groups on the sun & they were impressive. Both of us have pictures of the sun on our FB pages.
Mars (Planet, est. mag -2.4)
Observer: Michael Amato (e-mail: abigmick@aol.com)
Instrument: 5.1-inch equatorial reflector Location: West Haven, Connecticut, United States
Light pollution: moderate Transparency: fair Seeing: good
Time: Thu Nov 5 00:30:00 2020 UT Obs. no.: 2211
Last evening I observed Mars with my 5.1" Short Tube Newtonian Telescope. I had my best view of Mars for this entire apparition with Syrtis Major showing easily. I also saw other land features nicely as well as the Blue white north polar hood. I also made a naked eye color comparison between Mars, Jupiter & Saturn. Jupiter looked white to me while Saturn had a yellow look but Mars' orange color was really outstanding. I also did some observations of the moon & The Pleiades. This morning, I observed the sun's face with my solar scope. Sunspot group AR2781 showed a large sunspot group just entering the sun's face. I will be following this group in the coming days.
Mars (Planet, est. mag -2.4)
Observer: Michael Amato (e-mail: abigmick@aol.com)
Instrument: 5.1-inch equatorial reflector Location: West Haven, Connecticut, United States
Light pollution: moderate Transparency: fair Seeing: good
Time: Thu Nov 5 00:30:00 2020 UT Obs. no.: 2210
Last evening I observed Mars with my 5.1" Short Tube Newtonian Telescope. I had my best view of Mars for this entire apparition with Syrtis Major showing easily. I also saw other land features nicely as well as the Blue white north polar hood. I also made a naked eye color comparison between Mars, Jupiter & Saturn. Jupiter looked white to me while Saturn had a yellow look but Mars' orange color was really outstanding. I also did some observations of the moon & The Pleiades. This morning, I observed the sun's face with my solar scope. Sunspot group AR2781 showed a large sunspot group just entering the sun's face. I will be following this group in the coming days.
Mars (Planet, est. mag -2.5, est. to be in Pisces)
Observer: Michael Amato (e-mail: abigmick@aol.com)
Instrument: 5.1-inch equatorial reflector Location: West Haven, Connecticut, United States
Light pollution: moderate Transparency: fair Seeing: fair
Time: Thu Oct 15 01:15:00 2020 UT Obs. no.: 2207
For the last two evenings, I've been observing Mars with my 5.1" short tube Newtonian Reflector. The blue white North Polar Hood is still very obvious & I also saw some dark markings on Mars' surface again. Last Night, I also viewed the Pleiades & the Hyades open clusters with low power. There are many interesting double stars within each cluster & it will take me time to closely look at each double during the coming weeks.
Mars (Planet, est. mag -2.5, est. to be in Pisces)
Observer: Michael Amato (e-mail: abigmick@aol.com)
Instrument: 5.1-mm refractor Location: West Haven, Connecticut, United States
Light pollution: moderate Transparency: fair Seeing: fair
Time: Wed Oct 7 01:45:00 2020 UT Obs. no.: 2201
This evening, I observed Mars with my 5.1 Newtonian Short Tube reflector. One again I was able to see dark albedo features as well as the North Polar Hood. I also saw the ISS go over my house It was quite a doubleheader.
Mars (Planet, est. mag -2.6)
Observer: Michael Amato (e-mail: abigmick@aol.com)
Instrument: 50-mm binoculars Location: West Haven, Connecticut, United States
Light pollution: moderate Transparency: fair Seeing: fair
Time: Sat Oct 3 02:15:00 2020 UT Obs. no.: 2199
Last evening after coming home from work, I observed the close conjunction of Mars & the moon with both my naked eyes & binoculars. Mars was less than one degree above the upper left of the moon. I took a photo of the conjunction & it's in my Facebook page.
Mars (Planet, est. mag -2.6)
Observer: Michael Amato (e-mail: abigmick@aol.com)
Instrument: 50-mm binoculars Location: West Haven, Connecticut, United States
Light pollution: moderate Transparency: fair Seeing: fair
Time: Sat Oct 3 02:15:00 2020 UT Obs. no.: 2198
Last evening after coming home from work, I observed the close conjunction of Mars & the moon with both my naked eyes & binoculars. Mars was less than one degree above the upper left of the moon. I took a photo of the conjunction & it's in my Facebook page.
Mars (Planet, est. mag 1)
Observer: Michael Amato (e-mail: abigmick@aol.com)
Instrument: 5.1-inch equatorial reflector Location: West Haven, Connecticut, United States
Light pollution: moderate Transparency: fair Seeing: fair
Time: Mon Jun 15 08:15:00 2020 UT Obs. no.: 2164
This morning, I got up before dawn to observe Mars. Mars is still in the waxing gibbous phase & its color was very yellow which makes me wonder if a dust event is happening on the planet. The southern ice cap is huge now but will start shrinking until Mars' opposition this fall. About 6 hours earlier, I observed two double stars. The first one to my east was Albereo which impressed as usual & the next one was Regulus in the west. It too was impressive.
Mars (Planet, est. mag 1)
Observer: Michael Amato (e-mail: abigmick@aol.com)
Instrument: 5.1-inch equatorial reflector Location: West Haven, Connecticut, United States
Light pollution: moderate Transparency: fair Seeing: fair
Time: Mon Jun 15 08:15:00 2020 UT Obs. no.: 2163
This morning, I got up before dawn to observe Mars. Mars is still in the waxing gibbous phase & its color was very yellow which makes me wonder if a dust event is happening on the planet. The southern ice cap is huge now but will start shrinking until Mars' opposition this fall. About 6 hours earlier, I observed two double stars. The first one to my east was Albereo which impressed as usual & the next one was Regulus in the west. It too was impressive.
Mars (Planet, est. mag 1)
Observer: Michael Amato (e-mail: abigmick@aol.com)
Instrument: 5.1-inch equatorial reflector Location: West Haven, Connecticut, United States
Light pollution: moderate Transparency: fair Seeing: fair
Time: Mon Jun 15 08:15:00 2020 UT Obs. no.: 2162
This morning, I got up before dawn to observe Mars. Mars is still in the waxing gibbous phase & its color was very yellow which makes me wonder if a dust event is happening on the planet. The southern ice cap is huge now but will start shrinking until Mars' opposition this fall. About 6 hours earlier, I observed two double stars. The first one to my east was Albereo which impressed as usual & the next one was Regulus in the west. It too was impressive.
Mars (Planet, est. mag 1)
Observer: Michael Amato (e-mail: abigmick@aol.com)
Instrument: naked eye Location: West Haven, Connecticut, United States
Light pollution: moderate Transparency: fair Seeing: fair
Time: Thu Apr 2 09:20:00 2020 UT Obs. no.: 2143
This morning, I got up before dawn to observe the close encounter of Mars & Saturn. Mars was about 1.5 degrees below Saturn with Jupiter about 3 or 4 degrees to the upper right of them. Mars & Saturn seem to be equally bright with Jupiter being much brighter than them. It was a fine scene.
Mars (Planet, est. mag .5)
Observer: Michael Amato (e-mail: abigmick@aol.com)
Instrument: naked eye Location: West Haven, Connecticut, United States
Light pollution: moderate Transparency: fair Seeing: fair
Time: Thu Mar 26 09:20:00 2020 UT Obs. no.: 2140
This morning, before dawn, my brother Anthony & I got up to view the close gathering of bright Jupiter, Mars & Saturn. On the upper right was Jupiter with Mars two degrees to the lower left & Saturn two degrees left of Mars. I noticed Mars & Saturn are very close to each other in brightness. It was worth getting up for.
Mars (Planet, est. mag 1)
Observer: Michael Amato (e-mail: abigmick@aol.com)
Instrument: 50-mm binoculars Location: West Haven, Connecticut, United States
Light pollution: moderate Transparency: fair Seeing: fair
Time: Mon Mar 16 09:45:00 2020 UT Obs. no.: 2137
This morning, I observed the close encounter between Jupiter & Mars, both of which were about two degrees apart. Off the the lower left nearby was Saturn & to the upper right was the waning crescent moon. It was quite a sight.
Mars (Planet, est. mag -2.8, est. to be in Capricornus)
Observer: Michael Amato (e-mail: abigmick@aol.com)
Instrument: 50-mm binoculars Location: West Haven, Connecticut, United States
Light pollution: moderate Transparency: fair Seeing: fair
Time: Sat Jul 21 05:05:00 2018 UT Obs. no.: 2068
During the last two nights, I observed both Mars & Saturn with my mounted 10X50 astronomy binoculars. Saturn looks like a mini flying saucer in my binos. The rings seem attached to Saturn. Now that Mars is at its closest, I am able to see some surface detail on Mars' face. Now that the dust storm is dying down, I was able to notice a dark red area of Mars on its lower left. The upper left of Mars was very bright which tells me there is still dust storm activity there. There was also a dark feature in the center of Mars.
Mars (Planet, est. mag -2.8, est. to be in Capricornus)
Observer: Michael Amato (e-mail: abigmick@aol.com)
Instrument: 50-mm binoculars Location: West Haven, Connecticut, United States
Light pollution: moderate Transparency: fair Seeing: fair
Time: Sat Jul 21 05:05:00 2018 UT Obs. no.: 2067
During the last two nights, I observed both Mars & Saturn with my mounted 10X50 astronomy binoculars. Saturn looks like a mini flying saucer in my binos. The rings seem attached to Saturn. Now that Mars is at its closest, I am able to see some surface detail on Mars' face. Now that the dust storm is dying down, I was able to notice a dark red area of Mars on its lower left. The upper left of Mars was very bright which tells me there is still dust storm activity there. There was also a dark feature in the center of Mars.
Mars (Planet, est. mag -2.7, est. to be in Capricornus)
Observer: Michael Amato (e-mail: abigmick@aol.com)
Instrument: 50-mm binoculars Location: West Haven, Connecticut, United States
Light pollution: moderate Transparency: fair Seeing: fair
Time: Sat Jul 21 05:05:00 2018 UT Obs. no.: 2066
Early this morning, I observed Mars with my 10X50 binoculars. I was able to see the southern ice cap as a little white dot. It almost looked like it was not connected to the planet. Because of the ongoing dust storm. I was not able to see any dark markings on the face of the planet.
Mars (Planet, est. mag -2.6, est. to be in Capricornus)
Observer: Michael Amato (e-mail: abigmick@aol.com)
Instrument: naked eye Location: West Haven, Connecticut, United States
Light pollution: moderate Transparency: fair Seeing: fair
Time: Sat Jul 7 05:15:00 2018 UT Obs. no.: 2063
Early this morning I looked at Mars to see how the dust storm is going. The color of Mars is still yellow meaning the global dust storm continues unabated. I did see hints of orange & I'm hoping this is a sign that the dust storm may be beginning to die down. We'll have to wait & see.
Mars (Planet, est. mag -2.2, est. to be in Capricornus)
Observer: Michael Amato (e-mail: abigmick@aol.com)
Instrument: naked eye Location: West Haven, Connecticut, United States
Light pollution: moderate Transparency: fair Seeing: fair
Time: Sun Jul 1 03:50:00 2018 UT Obs. no.: 2062
This morning I viewed the close conjunction of Mars & the waning gibbous moon. Mars is now looking reddish orange again & this tells me the global dust storm on Mars is beginning to wind down. I will check on the planet soon to see if this is true.
Mars (Planet, est. mag -2.2, est. to be in Capricornus)
Observer: Michael Amato (e-mail: abigmick@aol.com)
Instrument: other Location: West Haven, Connecticut, United States
Light pollution: moderate Transparency: fair Seeing: fair
Time: Wed Jun 27 08:30:00 2018 UT Obs. no.: 2061
This morning, I looked at Mars to see how the global dust storm is doing. Mars is still bright yellow to the naked eye meaning the dust storm is still widespread. The storm doesn't look like it will be dying down soon.
Mars (Planet, est. mag -2.2, est. to be in Capricornus)
Observer: Michael Amato (e-mail: abigmick@aol.com)
Instrument: naked eye Location: West Haven, Connecticut, United States
Light pollution: moderate Transparency: fair Seeing: good
Time: Thu Jun 14 08:35:00 2018 UT Obs. no.: 2056
Early this morning, I checked the color of Mars due to a huge dust storm that is raging across the whole planet. Sure enough, the color of Mars is yellow Vs its usual reddish orange color. I noticed last week Mars' color was starting to look yellow due to several localized dust storms. Anyone can see this change in Mars with just their naked eyes.
Mars (Planet, est. mag -2.2, est. to be in Capricornus)
Observer: Michael Amato (e-mail: abigmick@aol.com)
Instrument: naked eye Location: West Haven, Connecticut, United States
Light pollution: moderate Transparency: fair Seeing: good
Time: Thu Jun 14 08:35:00 2018 UT Obs. no.: 2055
Early this morning, I checked the color of Mars due to a huge dust storm that is raging across the whole planet. Sure enough, the color of Mars is yellow Vs its usual reddish orange color. I noticed last week Mars' color was starting to look yellow due to several localized dust storms. Anyone can see this change in Mars with just their naked eyes.
Mars (Planet, est. mag 1.6, est. to be in Capricornus)
Observer: Michael Amato (e-mail: abigmick@aol.com)
Instrument: naked eye Location: West Haven, Connecticut, United States
Light pollution: moderate Transparency: fair Seeing: fair
Time: Sun Jun 3 08:30:00 2018 UT Obs. no.: 2053
Before dawn this morning, I observed the close conjunction of Mars & the moon. Mars was about a degree below the moon & it proved to be quite a sight. This marks the beginning of many to come Mars observations I will be making during the next three months.
Mars (Planet, est. mag -2.5, est. to be in Scorpius)
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 Jun 20 03:00:00 2016 UT Obs. no.: 1975
Last evening, I viewed Mars through my 127mm MAK. There was a large area of limb haze at the edge of Mars. I also noticed The South Polar Hood was easier for me to see than the North Polar Ice Cap. I also noticed Mars has started to shrink in my scope as it begins to move further away.
Mars (Planet, est. mag -2.5, est. to be in Scorpius)
Observer: Michael Amato (e-mail: abigmick@aol.com)
Instrument: 8-inch refractor Location: West Haven, Connecticut, United States
Light pollution: moderate Transparency: fair Seeing: fair
Time: Tue Jun 14 21:00:00 2016 UT Obs. no.: 1973
On Tuesday evening, My friend Becky, her grandson Noah & I went to Leitner Observatory at Yale to observer Mars, Jupiter, Saturn & the moon with the various telescopes on the scene. Jupiter's equatorial belts were both equally bright which surprised me since the northern belt is usually brighter than the southern belt. Three of Jupiter's moons were also visible. Saturn's noth equatorial belt was very visible as well as the Cassini Division on Saturn's rings. On Mars, I was only able to glimpse the North Polar Ice Cap, & a few Dark areas of the Mars. The craters on the moon were glorious to see. The three of us are planning another trip there when Venus is higher in the sky in August.
Mars (Planet, est. mag -2.5, est. to be in Scorpius)
Observer: Michael Amato (e-mail: abigmick@aol.com)
Instrument: 8-inch refractor Location: West Haven, Connecticut, United States
Light pollution: moderate Transparency: fair Seeing: fair
Time: Tue Jun 14 21:00:00 2016 UT Obs. no.: 1972
On Tuesday evening, My friend Becky, her grandson Noah & I went to Leitner Observatory at Yale to observer Mars, Jupiter, Saturn & the moon with the various telescopes on the scene. Jupiter's equatorial belts were both equally bright which surprised me since the northern belt is usually brighter than the southern belt. Three of Jupiter's moons were also visible. Saturn's noth equatorial belt was very visible as well as the Cassini Division on Saturn's rings. On Mars, I was only able to glimpse the North Polar Ice Cap, & a few Dark areas of the Mars. The craters on the moon were glorious to see. The three of us are planning another trip there when Venus is higher in the sky in August.
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