On Dec 3, 2024, at 12:37?AM, Mark Ost <jimcoble2000@...> wrote:

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I left the Blackwell back yard around 9:45 after observing in 29 degree weather. I was quite comfortable as full weather gear was worn. Seeing was only a 7 or 8 but a lot of doubles were seen. Sissie has a lot of mistakes in Andromeda and Aries. Roy a fun one to try is 14 ARI. She has it misstated as a double and it is a triple. She does not list the 11th magnitude component but it is mentioned as a triple in the description. I suspect she could not see it. It is a broad triangle and the dim star is easily missed. Another very very difficult one is Struve 279 in Andromeda. That took a lot of effort. A 5.9 star with two companions 10.9 and a very tough 11.7 . The 11.7 can be done but it takes effort. I was using the 5 inch scope.

Now the big news. I set up the 4 on the balcony prior to going to Kent's. The object was to visit Mars around midnight. It was worth the effort. The scope had cooled down and was functioning. I used a 4mm Zeiss with an 30 magenta Vernonscope filter. That gives about 180 something power. Last time with Mars a couple of years ago, the magenta filter was the filter of choice for Mars when Kent and I viewed it. I had ordered one a few weeks back. Good purchase.

The view was stunning. Often seeing is so much better here on the balcony as I am 16 feet above the ground. The parking lot has lost all it's heat by midnight at 29 degrees. Seeing was a nine, not perfect but good. I could see exactly what Sky Tools had as to what Mars would look like. I saw the polar cap, Mare Boreum, Chryse, Mare Erythraeum, and Argyr.

?Ed Zachery as advertised.?

AND, I can't believe it, but also saw Deimos with averted vision and not terribly hard oddly. I didn't think it was possible so checked the map and there is no way to mistake where it was and there is nothing else around it. Just the right distance, location and magnitude. I checked at low power to see the orientation with a nearby star and it matched perfectly.? It was just out of the glare of the planet and was actually seen without too much effort out of the corner of vision. It held steady every time. If you looked direct at it would vanish. But it was there when you looked at Mars. That scope/eyepiece combination is the highest contrast possible. Dead black and the Zeiss is razor sharp. I feel pretty confident about that observation. That is one for the books.

On 12/03/2024 12:36 AM EST Mark Ost <jimcoble2000@...> wrote:

?

?

I left the Blackwell back yard around 9:45 after observing in 29 degree weather. I was quite comfortable as full weather gear was worn. Seeing was only a 7 or 8 but a lot of doubles were seen. Sissie has a lot of mistakes in Andromeda and Aries. Roy a fun one to try is 14 ARI. She has it misstated as a double and it is a triple. She does not list the 11th magnitude component but it is mentioned as a triple in the description. I suspect she could not see it. It is a broad triangle and the dim star is easily missed. Another very very difficult one is Struve 279 in Andromeda. That took a lot of effort. A 5.9 star with two companions 10.9 and a very tough 11.7 . The 11.7 can be done but it takes effort. I was using the 5 inch scope.

?

Now the big news. I set up the 4 on the balcony prior to going to Kent's. The object was to visit Mars around midnight. It was worth the effort. The scope had cooled down and was functioning. I used a 4mm Zeiss with an 30 magenta Vernonscope filter. That gives about 180 something power. Last time with Mars a couple of years ago, the magenta filter was the filter of choice for Mars when Kent and I viewed it. I had ordered one a few weeks back. Good purchase.

?

The view was stunning. Often seeing is so much better here on the balcony as I am 16 feet above the ground. The parking lot has lost all it's heat by midnight at 29 degrees. Seeing was a nine, not perfect but good. I could see exactly what Sky Tools had as to what Mars would look like. I saw the polar cap, Mare Boreum, Chryse, Mare Erythraeum, and Argyr.

?

?Ed Zachery as advertised.?

?

AND, I can't believe it, but also saw Deimos with averted vision and not terribly hard oddly. I didn't think it was possible so checked the map and there is no way to mistake where it was and there is nothing else around it. Just the right distance, location and magnitude. I checked at low power to see the orientation with a nearby star and it matched perfectly.? It was just out of the glare of the planet and was actually seen without too much effort out of the corner of vision. It held steady every time. If you looked direct at it would vanish. But it was there when you looked at Mars. That scope/eyepiece combination is the highest contrast possible. Dead black and the Zeiss is razor sharp. I feel pretty confident about that observation. That is one for the books.

On 12/03/2024 12:36 AM EST Mark Ost <jimcoble2000@...> wrote:

?

?

I left the Blackwell back yard around 9:45 after observing in 29 degree weather. I was quite comfortable as full weather gear was worn. Seeing was only a 7 or 8 but a lot of doubles were seen. Sissie has a lot of mistakes in Andromeda and Aries. Roy a fun one to try is 14 ARI. She has it misstated as a double and it is a triple. She does not list the 11th magnitude component but it is mentioned as a triple in the description. I suspect she could not see it. It is a broad triangle and the dim star is easily missed. Another very very difficult one is Struve 279 in Andromeda. That took a lot of effort. A 5.9 star with two companions 10.9 and a very tough 11.7 . The 11.7 can be done but it takes effort. I was using the 5 inch scope.

?

Now the big news. I set up the 4 on the balcony prior to going to Kent's. The object was to visit Mars around midnight. It was worth the effort. The scope had cooled down and was functioning. I used a 4mm Zeiss with an 30 magenta Vernonscope filter. That gives about 180 something power. Last time with Mars a couple of years ago, the magenta filter was the filter of choice for Mars when Kent and I viewed it. I had ordered one a few weeks back. Good purchase.

?

The view was stunning. Often seeing is so much better here on the balcony as I am 16 feet above the ground. The parking lot has lost all it's heat by midnight at 29 degrees. Seeing was a nine, not perfect but good. I could see exactly what Sky Tools had as to what Mars would look like. I saw the polar cap, Mare Boreum, Chryse, Mare Erythraeum, and Argyr.

?

?Ed Zachery as advertised.?

?

AND, I can't believe it, but also saw Deimos with averted vision and not terribly hard oddly. I didn't think it was possible so checked the map and there is no way to mistake where it was and there is nothing else around it. Just the right distance, location and magnitude. I checked at low power to see the orientation with a nearby star and it matched perfectly.? It was just out of the glare of the planet and was actually seen without too much effort out of the corner of vision. It held steady every time. If you looked direct at it would vanish. But it was there when you looked at Mars. That scope/eyepiece combination is the highest contrast possible. Dead black and the Zeiss is razor sharp. I feel pretty confident about that observation. That is one for the books.

On 12/03/2024 11:46 AM EST jimcoble2000 via groups.io <jimcoble2000@...> wrote:

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Roy try the Vernonscope 30 magenta. Much better than the "Mars" filters everyone sells. I can't help you with clouds except to suggest Zillo.

?

On Tuesday, December 3, 2024 at 10:33:36 AM EST, Roy Diffrient <mail@...> wrote:

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Oh good – my Mars filter has been collecting dust for two years. ?Oh wait – my cloud filter has still not arrived!

On 12/03/2024 12:36 AM EST Mark Ost <jimcoble2000@...> wrote:

?

?

I left the Blackwell back yard around 9:45 after observing in 29 degree weather. I was quite comfortable as full weather gear was worn. Seeing was only a 7 or 8 but a lot of doubles were seen. Sissie has a lot of mistakes in Andromeda and Aries. Roy a fun one to try is 14 ARI. She has it misstated as a double and it is a triple. She does not list the 11th magnitude component but it is mentioned as a triple in the description. I suspect she could not see it. It is a broad triangle and the dim star is easily missed. Another very very difficult one is Struve 279 in Andromeda. That took a lot of effort. A 5.9 star with two companions 10.9 and a very tough 11.7 . The 11.7 can be done but it takes effort. I was using the 5 inch scope.

?

Now the big news. I set up the 4 on the balcony prior to going to Kent's. The object was to visit Mars around midnight. It was worth the effort. The scope had cooled down and was functioning. I used a 4mm Zeiss with an 30 magenta Vernonscope filter. That gives about 180 something power. Last time with Mars a couple of years ago, the magenta filter was the filter of choice for Mars when Kent and I viewed it. I had ordered one a few weeks back. Good purchase.

?

The view was stunning. Often seeing is so much better here on the balcony as I am 16 feet above the ground. The parking lot has lost all it's heat by midnight at 29 degrees. Seeing was a nine, not perfect but good. I could see exactly what Sky Tools had as to what Mars would look like. I saw the polar cap, Mare Boreum, Chryse, Mare Erythraeum, and Argyr.

?

?Ed Zachery as advertised.?

?

AND, I can't believe it, but also saw Deimos with averted vision and not terribly hard oddly. I didn't think it was possible so checked the map and there is no way to mistake where it was and there is nothing else around it. Just the right distance, location and magnitude. I checked at low power to see the orientation with a nearby star and it matched perfectly.? It was just out of the glare of the planet and was actually seen without too much effort out of the corner of vision. It held steady every time. If you looked direct at it would vanish. But it was there when you looked at Mars. That scope/eyepiece combination is the highest contrast possible. Dead black and the Zeiss is razor sharp. I feel pretty confident about that observation. That is one for the books.

?