Certainly there is more to hold ones interest with Jupiter and Saturn other than the discs whether it be watching the changing positions of the moons, shadow transits, trying to resolve the Gallilean moons to discs, rings, Cassini division etc
With Mars, you just have the disc and hope that there is an interesting side facing earth that night. I often wondered what the fuss about Mars was about. All I was seeing was a featureless white disc. Twas only when I saw the Syrtis Major region facing earth that it became more interesting. A big grey L on the planet. The thought that seeing this was analgous to me seeing the shape of Africa and Eurasia on Earth from Mars was pretty cool.
It was kinda like DSO's in terms of how on the surface it might not look particularily interesting. Just one slightly different cottonball after another but that it was the context of the object and the facts about it that made it interesting. ie. Yeah it might be just another cotton ball, but this particular cotton ball is 250,000 lightyears across and 30 million lightyears away.
This apparition just got even more interesting for me. Same ol same ol in terms of getting out with the Lightbridge. Half of 2010 looks like being an observing free zone for me because of other commitments, getting the scope in and out is impractical in the rented house atm.But I was damned if I didn't get to see Mars at least once this apparition. Everything else will still be in the sky next year when my time and observing space frees back up in the finished house but Mars wont be back for another 2 years.
Last night was the night. First session longer than 10 minutes in over a year! Well tickle me pink if I didn't see colour in a planet for the first time!! Mars was actually a faint orangey rusty colour!! Even though there was no standout surface feature like Syrtis Major in view, for the first time ever I saw the polar cap!! When Mars was a white disc for me, a white polar cap was invisible to my eyes. With colour in the disc the cap was obvious with a dark band wrapping around it. To me this was analgous to seeing the north polar cap and Greenland. I was pretty chuffed. The seeing was OK but for a few seconds with my 3.5mm at 515x I could even see some other faint surface detail. I'll have to check SNP to see what regions those were.
Its spurred me on to motivate myself to try and make some free time to fix all the niggles with my scope mods and fit the servocat at last. Still might not get out more than once or twice this apparition but I can't wait to start regular observing in the second half of this year when things get back to normal at my gaff.
Keith D.
16" Meade Lightbridge Truss Dobsonian with Servocat Tracking/GOTO
Ethos 3.7sx,6,8,10,13,17,21mm
Nagler 31mm
  