Observing Notesfrom the Tuckahoe IrregularsI awakened Thursday morning, July 18, 2003 at 2:30 am EDT to sneak a view of Mars. After rolling the 25" scope out of the trailer in the driveway I pointed it towards the Red Planet. Seeing was absolutely awesome, the best I have seen it thus far. As I was changing eyepieces to increase magnification a loud noise was suddenly heard down the street, as if a car had crashed into another. Hearing tires squeal I rushed to the end of my drive to see what had happened. Suddenly the vehicle came down my road, stopped at my driveway and someone jumped out of the back of the truck and ran toward me, furiously yelling obscenities along the way. Being the brave soul I am I ran toward my house. Apparently the young man never saw me, but did proceed to kick over the large city trashcan sitting at the end of my drive, then jumped into the back of the truck and sped off. The noise I had originally heard was the group of men knocking over other trashcans in the neighborhood. Did I quit looking at Mars after that upsetting incident? No, not when seeing was as superb as last night. But I must say it was indeed a unique experience! The air was thick with haze, calming any atmospheric turbulence to a nearly nil amount, and Martian features stood out as I have never seen before. The SPC was most prominent, as was Mare Erythraeum. Niliacus Lacus was at the northwestern limb. The seeing was so good filters seemed to be of less benefit than usual. Images were simply sharper without the filters. I have always found Vernonscope filters to surpass every other color filter for sharpness. It was, indeed, quite an exciting early morning for viewing Mars, the Bringer of War. Kent Blackwell Virginia Beach, VA |