I wouldn't run out and buy a ProPlanet just yet. I really don't understand how it could work for visual. I've heard similar 'visual' claims about Baader IR filters.



Schiaparelli didn't dupe anyone. Lowell did that all on his own. I'm guessing Lowell had an overactive imagination, he was from a wealthy family, well travelled, and wrote several books about his time in Asia. He'd apparently read Camille Flammarion's La planète Mars. Camille Flammarion was a French astronomer, fantasist, author of science fiction, and also had an overactive imagination.

Astronomy for Amateurs by Camille Flammarion Gutenberg link below:

http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/25267

It was Flammarion who first postulated that the 'canals' were possibly an attempt of a civilisation to irrigate an arid and dying world. He was also convinced the Martians had tried to communicate with Earth in the past. Throw this in with H.G. Wells, Edgar Rice Burroughs and others, not to forget the English writer Edwin Arnold whose 'Gulliver of Mars' was such a huge influence on Burroughs, and you have a whole era that was convinced there was intelligent life on Mars.

http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/604

And Venus, being the primeval 'twin of Earth' obviously covered with lush vegetation under its clouds, with enormous rain forests full of exotic fauna and buxom young women, who are all *up for it apparently.

*Being 'up for it' is a British euphemism.

 

I always wondered what happened to This Mortal Coil.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/This_Mortal_Coil

 

Be that as it may from your (Euro) perspective, from mine and the US - Lowell takes the prize. And with each Republikan voted into office, the schools here teach less and less. European History? NEVER! Famous Astronomers? NEVER! Astronomy? NEVER! Need I continue? Don't say it!

It's like P.T. Barnum has taken over the nation's schools - and he's busily creating generation after generation of idiots who are easy to to fool, trick, & swindle. And it's pre-planned 'brain-drain' is exactly how the Repubs' keep getting elected. And this explains the prototypical Trump-Supporter I'm sure you've seen on the news on TV over there.

So you need not tell me about the history most Americans' are oblivious to. I quit the schools here at 12. And designed my own own way - leading me into MIT & Harvard at 12 as well. But I think you know the rest. As for the stupidity and ignorance of my <koff!> country-people, I've made a detailed study of it for years now. I live in a state of being appalled 24/7/365.


Speaking of a Baader IR-Pass, they too have a very narrow range really of IR. I forget the exact numbers. I seem to recall it's around 750nm. I have a Baader Ha 35nm, the widest range of Ha going (which is why I went for it). Baader then discontinued them. They may have started making them again. I'd have to check.

Off to shop. I'll BB.


ps - Oh yes - It was Ed who got me thinking of IR-Passband filters. I sent him all the new data I found for him to sift. He bought that "keyhole with a key in it" ZWO 850nm. I sent him an ad for the Orion Image-Block Filter. It's just a solid black piece of glass that lets nothing through!

 

I've seen TV, I believe we invented it. I don't really watch the news, even the BBC. I think Trump gets mentioned occasionally. He's obviously more important to you than us. Meanwhile, we have more pressing problems than worrying about foreign presidents. You realise the English don't actually view themselves as Europeans, right? lol

It did puzzle me why I was ridiculed on Cloudy Nights when I mentioned ESA and the French space program. I was informed that France didn't have a space program.



Which does beg the question of who's launching this above?



And Schiaparelli was the name of the ESA probe that crashed on Mars. Kind of makes sense when you think about it. If the weather (here and there) improves it may be possible to view the Mare Erythraeum around 01:30 GMT. I could be happy if I saw that lol!



I think I've gone a bit Clare Grogan there.

 

The Germans under Hitler invented TV, I thought. They broadcast Hitler opening the 1936 Olympics.

The French launch from French Guiana from an island off the coast.

Schiaparelli is a good name for a Mars-shot.

Yes - the UK doesn't think of itself as Euro. But you are getting news and politics from Europe - much more so than we do. Most Americans think France is in Canada. And Canada is in Nebraska. Or similar. Read my piece on the planned destruction of education here again. I'm not f**king joking there.

 

Oh yeah - enough of this blather...

You have a 5x Barlow, yes? You use it with your ST80? How good (or bad) is the contrast? I think it was you who seemed to indicate it was alright?

 

Yeah, typical Nazis, taking the credit for other people's inventions.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Logie_Baird

Schiaparelli was a good name for a lander.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schiaparelli_EDM_lander

 

It seems fine.

 

Das ist gut! Danke.

 

Outstanding with those fiddles!

 

My god @Pleiades

That video of the Good the Bad and the Ugly is a true masterpiece recreated, faithful to the original too, wow 10/10

 

@Mak the Night great Mars observation post #3789 with the ST80. I saw similar features has you last week but no poles, the dark features were strongly there, it was very impressive.

 

How about a bit of Vivaldi?

 

I don't know why the south pole was so bright, it could be that Mars is closer this year and any albedo features in the south seemed brighter. It really did look like an exaggerated polar cap. It could be that the entire Aonia Terra region has a high albedo anyway, add that to the brightness and that's what I saw.

 

That's impressive, you had great luck with condition and position. It looks promising for us to capture many strong features like that again. I can't wait to try my 7mm and 6mm orthoscopic (and 4.7mm I hope) on mars in the upcoming days and sketch these awesome features.

I wish to see the ice and the blue clouds/atmosphere. Especially the clouds/atmosphere.

Thanks for the link Aonia Terra region, I need to learn the name of Mars features urgently.

(Vivaldi that's hard to beat )

 

Mars was fairly low for me, it was still rising but it would have been light before it made transit. I was surprised to see detail this early though.



This should be what's visible exactly at opposition. Mars has a slightly longer day than ours, if you can catch it at different times you might see different surface features. Syrtis Major was quite prominent at one time during the last opposition IIRC.

How about some Divinyls?

 

Do you have an application to see the face of mars, a "profiler" ?

I went crazy and ordered this Mars globe from amazon today, it looks complete and I intend to use it to identify the various features of Mars directly in the field.

https://www.amazon.ca/Sky-Telescope...TF8&qid=1529273786&sr=8-3&keywords=mars+globe

I also ordered a #15 Yellow / Amber filter and a couple of rubber end caps from Agena.

Divinyls she is not beating Vivaldi I think hehehe

 

Well speak of the Devil! There you are! I was getting concerned.

Oh ho - that globe! I was looking at that very one yesterday! But I'm saving-up for a - you guessed it - another filter at present. Otherwise I was very tempted to get one of those myself. Please let me know how you like it when it lands!

They also have those of Venus, too. As well as Mercury and Pluto.

 

CDC renders Mars pretty accurately. It should run on Mint (Debian).

https://www.ap-i.net/skychart/en/download

As does the Virtual Planet Atlas.

http://www.ap-i.net/avp/en/start

http://www.ap-i.net/avp/en/download