Mars Will Appear As A Bright Red Star!

Keen's comment was based on you talking about Mars becoming a star. No one on the thread has said a thing about Mars becoming a star, and there's no question that such a small planet never would become a star. I suspect Keen figured you got caught up in the subject and didn't read into the word "appear" when you explained that Mars would never become a star

Originally posted by junglejake
Keen's comment was based on you talking about Mars becoming a star.(...)

Well, I don't think I mentionned Mars becoming a star, but rather the contrary... Now I may have been unclear...

I'm not an expert at it, but litterate enough about astronomy to know the difference between stars and planets, and I was surely not trapped by this one.

Now, no problem. If I was not clear, it's all my fault, but in the end I think we all agree completely here on the subject!

Originally posted by SpookyVince
Well, I don't think I mentionned Mars becoming a star, but rather the contrary...

Exactly, but the way you worded it was as if JJ had said it WAS going to be a star and he didn't know any better when starting this thread. His point in starting it though was that it won't be and thoughts otherwise would be wrong.

So, in short, you repeated exactly what he was saying, which is what led me to believe that you never even read through the thread.

This stinks!!!!!!!!

Tonight is the night to see Mars right? It's the 29th of August?

This damn hurricane has nothing but rain here in Atlanta. Guess I'll miss it.

Post pics!

No, this is not the time to see Mars... That time will be in October.

I tried to look this weekend with my 8" dob. It was a small bright-orange blur! I had better luck looking at it back in 2003 with a mere 45x power 60mm spotting scope I used for birding. Must be an air turbulance problem.

I'll keep trying... there's time...

I broke my telescope a few years back, it's being held together with electrical tape now.

Is there some way I can clean the filth and dust of the lenses, I tried tissue and cloths but they don't work. How can I clean them? Will compressed air work?

I read about the 'mars as big as the moon', thing a while back.....but couldn't see how that was going to happen?!!

I did a bit of searching, and read in another location that the "magnitude" of mars was going to approach that of the moon......that would mean brightness, in that instance, not biggness, but some one must have interpreted it as respective to size......and there you have a possible explaination for this particular 'urban legend'!

Originally posted by GoldEagle
Is there some way I can clean the filth and dust of the lenses, I tried tissue and cloths but they don't work. How can I clean them? Will compressed air work?

What type of telescope is it? Reflector, catadioptics or a refractor? Just wanting to be sure on that before I answer. :

Originally posted by cmdrkeenkid

Originally posted by GoldEagle
Is there some way I can clean the filth and dust of the lenses, I tried tissue and cloths but they don't work. How can I clean them? Will compressed air work?

What type of telescope is it? Reflector, catadioptics or a refractor? Just wanting to be sure on that before I answer. :

Cleaning the lenses has nothing to do with the type of telescope, Keen. Look, I really respect you and you usually know your stuff, but in this case you seem to just be trying to sound smart.

Oooo, look at me, I'm commander Keen Kid and I know what types of telescopes are out there! I have an excuse for being online but not answering a really basic question! Jeeze

Cleaning your lenses is really simple, and you only really need three things. First you're going to take your 80-grit sandpaper and get all that krump off of there. It may look like you're doing damage, but if you've ever used a CD fixer, you know you'll get some scrapes in the lens. We're going to fix those in a moment, but they shouldn't affect your viewing ability even if we don't. After all, stars are huge, what's a little buffing mark going to do?

You want to be sure to always do it in one direction, too. Circular motions will ruin your lens, and you won't be able to do anything about it but replace it. DO NOT USE CIRCULAR MOTIONS! This isn't waxing the car, it's painting the fence.

After you do that, you want to be sure not to blow off any of the dust on the lenses. This will not be bad dust, but rather glass particles we're going to have to put back on the lens. It's at this point we take our blowtorch, and hit the lens until all those particles have blended with the lens again. This will fill in most of the scratches with brand new, clean glass. All the impurities that have accumulated in the lens will also be removed through this process.

Now you have to clean the lens of all the impurities that are now on the surface just waiting to leave. Since this is a big cleaning job, we need to take two very powerful cleaners and combine them. Mix your ammonia with your bleach and start to wipe the lens with some steel wool. Don't worry, the rumors that the combination of ammonia and bleach making the deadly chlorine gas aren't true. If they're true, then this explanation of how to clean your lens is absolutely false. Don't worry about the steel wool, either. When you melted and cooled the glass, it hardened it even more than it already was.

Spray on the cleaner and hit it with the steel wool, this time in circular motions. Wax on, wax off, baby! Now, your lens should be cleaner than you'd ever have imagined possible! If you want to increase the power of the lens, follow these steps but find an online guide on optics to get a picture of the shape you'd need your lens to be, and mold it when it's still hot from the blow torch.

Hope this helped!

Originally posted by junglejake
Mix your ammonia with your bleach and start to wipe the lens with some steel wool. Don't worry, the rumors that the combination of ammonia and bleach making the deadly chlorine gas aren't true.
Hope this helped!

I think it is poisonous. My mom did that once to clean the floors and I was coughing blood. My highschool chemistry teacher said thay had to evacuate the school if those mix.

en.wikipedia.org...

Bleach should never be mixed with other household cleaners, especially not with ones containing acid, since this results in the generation of chlorine gas. It should also never be mixed with anything containing ammonia, since chloramine gas can be gained from this combination. Urine contains ammonia, so bleach should not be used to clean urine spills. Both chlorine gas and chloramine gas are highly toxic. Bleaches also react rather violently with hydrogen peroxide.

The steps are too complicated, they seem to be professional however. I don't own a blowtorch and I don't have the time. What you have provided is useful however and I may need to do that someday. Thanks junglejake.

I have a refractor telescope. If anyone else can help out, too.



[edit on 8/30/2005 by GoldEagle]

If you don't have a blowtorch or a very hearty knowledge of optics and lens creation, then, I would recommend you listen to Keen. He might have a better, less professional idea than I do.

By the way, since it turns out that ammonia and bleach combined is deadly, what does that make my directions?

The best way to clean the lens, aside from JJ's wonderful directions, would be to:

1.) Blow the dust and dirt off with compressed air.
B.) Clean the remaining stuff off with lens cleaning solution and a lens cloth. When cleaning begin at the center and move out to the edges in a swirling motion.

That is a VERY basic way to do it... For a more in depth, but still less-technical than how JJ said to do it, you could read this: "How to Clean Optics on $500 Or Less"

I cleaned them and it works pretty good now. Not like brand new but it will have to do for now. My telescope is in bad shape to begin with anyways.

Look at the eye piece:

The mirror is being held in by a piece of paper, covered by electrical tape, and wrapped in copper wire to hold the tape together.

Here is my telescope, nothing spectacular.


Do you think I can get a good view of Mars with it? I have a H25mm, SR4mm, and a HI2.5mm lenses. Which one would be best to look at Mars with when it comes close?





[edit on 8/30/2005 by GoldEagle]

Originally posted by GoldEagle
I cleaned them and it works pretty good now. Not like brand new but it will have to do for now.

Just one thing... Did you do it the way JJ suggested?

Originally posted by cmdrkeenkid

Originally posted by GoldEagle
I cleaned them and it works pretty good now. Not like brand new but it will have to do for now.

Just one thing... Did you do it the way JJ suggested?

...I'm guessing not, if they're actually working still

I edited the last post, to add pictures and another question. I'm not good with optics as you guys are. I need you opinions.