Mars Opposition 1988

Mars reached opposition, (Mars Opposition 1988) when it was opposite to the Sun in the sky in September 1988. Lying in the constellation Cetus, it was visible for much of the night, reaching its highest point in the sky around midnight local time.

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Mars at Opposition Source: APOD

At the time as often happens, when the planet is at Opposition, and closer to the sun, the face of Mars was obscured by a large dust storm.

The Observation

When I created this sketch, I was looking at it a month earlier than the Mars Opposition 1988 and some of the features were quite clear.  Later in September when everyone was looking at it, much of the detail I show here was obscured by the “Weather” on the surface of Mars.

I was also using the Brashear 4″ Refractor that was at the time situated in the old Regina Astronomical Observatory (Now RASC Regina Centre) on Broad Street in Regina Saskatchewan.

The Sketch I made to record what I saw, was quite detailed. The sky was unusually steady that night, and this was my very first experience observing the planet up close with a significant telescope.

The Polar Ice Cap was visible as well as the darker features that appear below it.  Today we have a different view of this Planet than at that time when exploration of the Surface of the planet was in its infancy, and most of what we knew about the planet was from telescopic  observations.

I have many happy memories of my time working to establish the Regina Centre.  This was one of them.

The Telescope

Below is a recent image of the telescope, from where it is today in the Western Development Museum in Moose Jaw  Saskatchewan.

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