It was so clear on Friday evening that I just couldn’t resist setting up the 150mm Newtonian.



At around 19:00 BST it was cooled nicely and I could see Mars.



It wouldn’t reach transit until 20:27 and at an altitude of just over 16°. Of course, as soon as I had Mars in the eyepiece, the weather changed. I started off rather optimistically at 225x, but quickly dropped down to 200x, not that it made much difference. Seeing was a decidedly dodgy Antoniadi ~ III at best, and the bubbly, blobby mess that was Mars wasn’t looking very promising. There were transparency issues too. However, I was on a mission to see Syrtis Major. I’ve seen it before but it was visible now according to my software and it is of historical interest. Possibly the first feature viewed on the surface of another world with a telescope, it was discovered and first documented by Huygens and included in his drawing of the planet in 1659.



I waited as Mars gained altitude and I estimated it would improve at around 20:00. At 200x with a Baader Contrast Booster I could just about make Syrtis Major out. I dropped right down to 128.5x using a 7mm Sky-Watcher UWA and using the Baader Orange Longpass filter. After a while the Martian phase became more apparent and the southern polar cap was definitely visible. I also thought I could occasionally perceive the white area of Hellas Planitia situated ‘above’ Syrtis Major (in the Newtonian inverted view). Syrtis Major itself was also much better defined now. As the seeing stabilised a bit I upped the magnification to 150x with a GSO 6mm Plossl and then finally to 180x with a 5mm KK orthoscopic. I stayed at this magnification up until about transit. Mission accomplished! I’m sure Huygens would have approved (even though I didn't use a Huygens EP).



Part two of the mission was to see the ‘Moon Maiden’ in the Bay of Rainbows. She looked a lot better than in these Virtual Moon Atlas screenshots lol.