Viewing Mars is by far the most exciting and agonizing component of this journey.  The excitement starts when the Sun begins to set and the sky is clear, even though Mars won’t appear for a few hours, I collect my equipment and pre-stage them.
         My equipment includes binoculars (one mounted on a tripod & one not), telescopes (two borrowed), rig for taking fixes (inclinometer & round protractor mounted on a frame), books (Moore, Field Guide), planisphere, flashlights, lantern, clipboard & pencils.
         Pre-staging the equipment is simply putting the binoculars and telescopes on my porch to acclimate them to the outside temperature, which is definitely cooler than inside my house.  I found out the hard way that optical equipment needed to reach ‘thermal equilibrium’.  When I first started to observe with my 10 x 50 binoculars it would not keep in focus and I thought that it was of poor quality, but I found that after about and hour or so they worked great.  A few days later a friend loaned me a telescope and told me that I should set it out on my porch “to cool down the lens” at least a half hour before I intended to use it.
        My excitement turns into anticipation as soon as I see Antares because I know Mars isn’t far behind.  I start thinking, I wonder if I’ll see Antares’ green friend, or if Mars will reveal any surface features, or asteroids, or Moons, or anything different.
        Usually after Antares makes his appearance I move my equipment to the observation area (back yard).  The spot I use was selected by trial and error; my early observations were taken from a spot that hampered (trees in back yard and horizon) my viewing of Mars and Antares but gave me full view of the whole sky.  My current spot precludes observing the northern sky, but gives me better viewing of my two primary targets.
        They both rise in the southeast, I track their movements by taking fixes (altitude and azimuth measurements), and watch them with binoculars till they come south.  My southern horizon is framed by two trees and the red specters are high enough in the sky that I get about two hours of unimpeded viewing of either entity – unfortunately, simultaneous viewing of both of them in the frame is limited because as Mars enters, Antares is preparing to exit.   But as soon as they both are ‘framed’ I make several sketches – naked eye of the whole frame, and binocular and telescope views of Mars.  I have early binocular view sketches of Antares but they are basically the same, whereas the star fields around Mars change.
         Agony and frustration arises from the elements and inexperience.  On several occasions while I was waiting for Mars to enter the frame, clouds or fog would come out of nowhere.  Last week Thursday (24 May 01) for example, I was looking at Antares through my binoculars, then I noticed that the other stars in my field of view were fading – I removed the binoculars and saw that Antares and all the other stars around him disappeared.  Just like that, one minute bright and beautiful, and the next minute gone.
        Another ‘element’ problem is condensation on my binoculars and telescope (another lesson learned the hard way).  When I first started observing I noticed that after awhile my binoculars wouldn’t stay in focus, I thought it was because of the cold, which in April was near freezing – there would be a light coat of ice on the table I used.  So I started covering my equipment with scarves and towels, they helped,  but then they would get saturated with moisture and my binoculars would get ‘foggy’.  I now use plastic bags to cover my equipment; if I’m not looking through them they are covered up – this has been successful to date.
        My lack of experience led me to collect useless data, early on I neglected to sketch the star field behind Mars, or note colors or shape.  Also, inexperience at using the equipment (telescopes) and knowing what I’m looking at set me back.
        However, I’ve gained some experience and in spite of the elements I have had some nights of good viewing. Sketches, comments and analysis …