Mars

 Mars was pretty amazing last night.  It was cold and clear.  The air
was quite moist and the frost was settling in for a good hard freeze by
22:00.







I'll have to take to sketching some of these objects.  I'm sorry to
have so little talent when it comes to drawing because the beauty is
hard to describe in any other way.  I am not into astro photography,
but maybe I should be.  I'd be better off with a more controllable
telescope.  A Dobson mount doesn't lend itself to tracking very well,
and without having compensation for our spinning planet, the images
have to be left to under 15 seconds. 







I gave away my current issue of SkyNews, thinking I had already
received the second copy I get, but apparently not.  I was interested
to compare my observations with some images.  Mars rotates and presents
a different set of features as it rotates, but it's sometimes a trick
to get my eyes and mind to capture all that's available.  It's a quite,
gentle sport to be found late at night through an eye piece.







Mars is higher in the evening sky now after we dumped the DST so it was
irresistible to me although I was beat and in need of sleep.  It's such
a subtle subject, but rewarding if you enjoy that kind of thing. 
Observing isn't for everyone, but it's well suited for me.