Finding Phobos and Deimos with Guide 7
Dennis L. Means May 17, 2001
Hi Bill,
For something different Monday night we tried to observe the
satellites of Mars visually with the 2.3 meter Bok telescope
of Steward Observatory. The 2.3 meter is on Kitt Peak.
We used a TeleVue 55mm plossl eyepeice. This gave us a
power of 375x. The seeing was 1" to 1.25" of arc.
We used Guide 7 to show us the positions of the satellites
and when they would be clear of the planet. We had a real time
animation running, watching the relative positions of Mars and
each satellite change with time. When ever we looked in the
eyepiece the satellites were right where Guide said they would
be.
We easily found Deimos. Phobos was harder as it was hidden
in a defraction spike. We observed them at 10:45 UT and
again at 11:20 UT. The two satelilles had diffinatly moved
with respect both to Mars and the background stars.
The observers where Carl Hergenrother-LPL, Bill Wood-SOKP,
and myself.
Clear and steady,
Dennis L. Means
Telescope Operations Specialist, Senior
Steward Observatory, University of Arizona.