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Tonight was a very big night. I saw detail in Mars for the very first time. I also observed 6 new Messier objects and saw a very nice meteor. Not a bad night at all.
I saw 3 new globular clusters, 1 new nebula, 1 new open cluster, and 1 new cluster + nebula combination. The Messier objects I observed were: M3, M5, M8, M9, M10,
M11, M12, M16, M17, M20, and M22. I decided not to go after the Astronomical League's Messier certificate after all. I fired up the GOTO on the LX200 and zoomed around the Universe finding
new and interesting objects. It was a blast.
I also finally saw some detail in Mars. Last night (the 21st) was the absolute best night to see Mars in the last 13 years because it was closer to the Earth than it
has been in 13 years. Being closer means that it appears larger and so detail is easier to see. However, being located in a Northern latitude like I am means that Mars is very low in the
South. That means that the light coming
from it has to pass through more of the Earth's atmosphere before reaching my eye. The Earth's atmosphere distorts the image and makes it much tougher to see detail. In fact, it's just like the heat ripples that you can see on a highway on a very hot day. The different air temperatures bend light differently and produce a fuzzy image. But the Earth's atmosphere wasn't the only thing working to keep me from getting a good view. I didn't have time to bring the scope out before observing to let it cool down. Because of that, there were air-currents inside the telescope itself, doing exactly the same thing as the Earth's atmosphere and further distorting the image. Even so, I was able to see Mare Sirenum, one of the larger features of Mars.
A great night. I can't wait for the next time. I'm going to go out and find as many of the remaining Messier objects as I can.
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