The Planets

Sun,Mercury,Venus,Earth,Mars,Jupiter,Saturn

Mars is heading for it's closest approach to Earth for many years and should look good in small telescopes.

One thing I've learnt whilst observing (and it should have been obvious to me!) is that as Earth moves around it's orbit the planets get closer or further away from us. This has a big impact on what you can see. Last spring I had the best views yet of Jupiter and Saturn and I could easily see the Great Red Spot on Jupiter and the Cassini division in Saturns rings.

I'm looking forward to what Mars has to offer in the next few weeks.

I've finally had a chance to view Mars. This is the largest I've seen Mars (hardly surprising!) I would estimate that it's at least as large in the eyepiece as Saturn was last winter.

Once my eyes became dark adapted I managed to pick out the polar cap easily, it was very white and arced over the pole of the planet. I then saw the dark region that stretched across the planet from east to west and from the center of the band down to the south. It looked like a flattened 'Y' shape and was a light khaki colour. I've never seen detail on Mars before so I spent quite a while taking in the sight. I was fortunate to get moments of very good seeing.

This is a photograph I took of Mars through the 6.4mm eyepiece. I took an 'avi' (movie) and stacked the best images to produce this result. It's pretty close to what I observed except that the polar cap was better defined when looking through the eyepiece.
Ricoh RDC 6000 digital camera hand held to a 6.4mm eyepiece.

Where are the Jovian Moons

The left-to-right order of the satellites are given by the satellite names displayed in the lower left box. Satellites names in red indicate that the satellite is being occulted (behind) by Jupiter. Satellite names in yellow represent transiting satellites.

Below are my own observations of planets that I've found so far, hopefully as time goes on I'll manage to track down the remaining planets and post my observations.

On more recent observations of Saturn I've spotted four of Saturn's Moons! The moons closer in to the planet change position very quickly and the view is different from night to night.

Venus

Eyepiece Magnification Description

25mm X32
As Venus is close to the sun the planet reflects a lot of light which makes it impossible to pick out any details. The best you can hope for is to see the different phases that the planet is in. With the low power eyepiece it's fairly difficult to make out the planets phase.

9mm X64
With the medium power eyepiece you can tell what phase Venus is in. Keep track of the planet over a period of time and make a note of the changes you see.

6.4mm X117
You will see nothing with the high power eyepiece that you cant see with the medium one. Experiment with it but watch out for the brightness of Venus - it can hurt your eyes. I used a filter to restrict the brightness which made it easier to see the phase of the planet.

Mars

Eyepiece Magnification Description

6.4mm X117
Mars has to be the least exciting object I've viewed through the telescope. Even with the highest power available to me I could only make out a small red disk. I could see no detail on the surface as the image was far too small. Perhaps when Mars passes closer to Earth I might see some detail.

Saturn

Eyepiece Magnification Description

25mm X32
Through the lower power eyepiece you can just make out the rings around Saturn, the whole image is very clear but small. Saturn appears very orange in colour.

9mm X64
Saturn is a glorious sight through the higher power eyepiece with the gap between the rings and the planet being clearly defined. Its difficult to pick out any cloud detail on the planet but I'm sure you can make out some variations in the planets atmosphere. The colour of Saturn again is a rich amber / orange.

6.4mm X117
The higher power once more reveals the glories of this planet and it's rings. I'm sure I saw the Cassini division in the rings and some detail in the planets cloud system.

Jupiter

Eyepiece Magnification Description

25mm X32
Through the lower power eyepiece you can make out the disk of Jupiter as a bright white disk and you can see all four moons (providing they're not behind the planet).

9mm X64
With the higher power eyepiece you can start to make out details on Jupiter. On a good night it's possible to see the major cloud bands on the planet. In total I've seen five cloud bands around Jupiter but I've yet to see the Red Spot, but then it may not have been in view when I've seen the planet, though I doubt that very much.

6.4mm X117
The higher power doesn't reveal much more detail than the 9mm eyepiece. I would hope that on a night with very good seeing the higher power eyepiece will make a difference. To date the seeing conditions have not allowed me to test this theory out.

Back to home page

		Venus
Eyepiece	Magnification	Description
25mm	X32	As Venus is close to the sun the planet reflects a lot of light which makes it impossible to pick out any details. The best you can hope for is to see the different phases that the planet is in. With the low power eyepiece it's fairly difficult to make out the planets phase.
9mm	X64	With the medium power eyepiece you can tell what phase Venus is in. Keep track of the planet over a period of time and make a note of the changes you see.
6.4mm	X117	You will see nothing with the high power eyepiece that you cant see with the medium one. Experiment with it but watch out for the brightness of Venus - it can hurt your eyes. I used a filter to restrict the brightness which made it easier to see the phase of the planet.

		Saturn
Eyepiece	Magnification	Description
25mm	X32	Through the lower power eyepiece you can just make out the rings around Saturn, the whole image is very clear but small. Saturn appears very orange in colour.
9mm	X64	Saturn is a glorious sight through the higher power eyepiece with the gap between the rings and the planet being clearly defined. Its difficult to pick out any cloud detail on the planet but I'm sure you can make out some variations in the planets atmosphere. The colour of Saturn again is a rich amber / orange.
6.4mm	X117	The higher power once more reveals the glories of this planet and it's rings. I'm sure I saw the Cassini division in the rings and some detail in the planets cloud system.

		Jupiter
Eyepiece	Magnification	Description
25mm	X32	Through the lower power eyepiece you can make out the disk of Jupiter as a bright white disk and you can see all four moons (providing they're not behind the planet).
9mm	X64	With the higher power eyepiece you can start to make out details on Jupiter. On a good night it's possible to see the major cloud bands on the planet. In total I've seen five cloud bands around Jupiter but I've yet to see the Red Spot, but then it may not have been in view when I've seen the planet, though I doubt that very much.
6.4mm	X117	The higher power doesn't reveal much more detail than the 9mm eyepiece. I would hope that on a night with very good seeing the higher power eyepiece will make a difference. To date the seeing conditions have not allowed me to test this theory out.