With a 5-foot snow drift clogging my front walk it's nice to see that it's Spring in the Northern Hemisphere....for Mars!

On January 30th Mars is at opposition and well placed in the Northern Sky for Saskatchewan observers.

Opposition means that the Sun-->Earth--> Mars are lined up resulting in Mars rising at sunset and setting at sunrise allowing us the opportunity to view the Red Planet all night long.

The best times to view Mars will occur from now until late March.

To locate Mars please see the finder chart. To your unaided eyes Mars will look like a very bright orange star rising almost due east and is located in the constellation of Cancer neatly placing it between the constellations of Orion & the Big Dipper aster-ism. Images courtesy of SkyTools 3.

You can use the Feb 14 Mars chart in the morning as the same face of Mars is visible before sunrise around Jan. 31st.

BEGINNER:

If you don't own a telescope you can enjoy observing Mars as it meanders through the stars and slowly begins to dim over the next few months. I would recommend coming down to the Saskatchewan Science Center on a public observing night, see calendar at top right, for a look through our telescope and a guided tour by our experienced members.

First time viewers are surprised to find that through a telescope Mars appears not red or orange but a salmon color.

INTERMEDIATE:

For telescope owners Mars can be a disappointing first sight and despite observing several oppositions I still need a couple nights on the Red Planet to adjust to it's nuances. I will include a finder charts for current features I have found observable in my damaged 80mm (3-inch) refractor working at 160X. Currently I observe with a 5-inch refractor but have yet to see Mars through it. More expereinced planetary observers recommend starting with powers around 30X per inch of aperture, so this will be 150X for my scope. If you use less power or want to reveal darker features try using a filter as low power views of Mars cause an opitcal affect on the eye called irradiation meaning that bright areas appear to encrouch on dark areas.

If you own a small telescope, anything 6-inches and smaller,an Orange W#21 filter instead of deep red filters may help. I have had the most luck with the Lumicon brand color filters. Although well known for their Nebula Filters Lumicon make inexpensive color ones as well, they don't cost much more then regular color filters but are much paler so do not dimm the planet as much.

Mars will usually take as much power as the night will hold so don't be afraid to throw some power on and wait for the seeing to stabilize.

ADVANCED:

For a challenge try observing the Moons of Mars, Phobos and Deimos, the 12th and 13th magnitude satellites of the Red Planet.

The trick to seeing these objects is to remove bright Mars from the field. You will want an eyepiece with a sharp field stop or occulting bar as well as a detailed finder, I can provide this if you do not own software but you'll want to provide me with the day and time you will be observing since they orbit Mars close and change positions hourly.

See this web page at Sky&Telescope for instructions on making an occulting eyepiece.

http://www.skyandtelescope.com/observing/objects/javascript/The_Martian_Moons_in_2007_and_2008.html

A Note on Mars Polar Caps:

When I first began observing Mars through my 8-inch dob I thought the caps were readily apparent. After seeing them through some larger scopes in 2003 & 2005 I discoverd that the caps were very small, with the south barely detectable. Mars Observers need to keep in mind that Mars, like Earth, has an atmosphere and that clouds will form in the polar reagions. Most notable is the North Polar Hood which is my most common misighting of a polar cap. The South Polar Cap tricksters are the Argyre & Hellas regions and often fool me into thinking I'm seeing the cap since they are small and accumulate cloud in Martian mornings and evenings.

If you are an RASC Member you already own a great Mars Chart!

The Observers Handbook P. 217 has a fantastic chart and accompanying advice.

Online Mars Book!

http://www.alpo-astronomy.org/jbeish/Observing_Mars_1.html

Clear Skies,

Chris Beckett

RASC Regina Center

(My e-mail and contact details are located in our members list link on page left)