Don't Back Down

The other day, I mentioned that we bought some binoculars. They came in, and they are a nice enough set. But they don't really magnify much. Useful for the football game, perhaps. For viewing Mars? Not so good. But that's okay. A measly 7x when you're talking about an object that's still 35 million miles away just isn't going to work. Oh, you mean it looks like it's only 5 million miles away now? Shibby!

So the other day, we pick up a telescope from Sears. Yes, I know. Don't buy a telescope from a department store. Don't buy a telescope rated in magnification (525x!). I understand. I really do. But curiosity got the better of me, and we bought it. If nothing else, Sears has a pretty decent return policy - if I can get the thing apart and back in the box, I'm sure they'll take it back.

After an hour or so of trying to fit the pieces together with some pretty poor directions, it's at least assembled. Correctly? I have no idea. Maybe. It looks pretty decent, I'd say. And the last three nights, I haul it out to see Mars. This isn't an easy task - the thing is big, though not paricularly heavy. The dogs want to see what's going on. But it's worth it. Where we could see only a bright dot, we can now see... a slightly larger, and possibly brighter, dot. Damn.

Maybe I expect too much. I know I'm not going to see anything decent at 525x - too much magnification to be anywhere near clear. But surely the 4mm lens with a 700mm focal length (175x) ought to show something. I had finally resigned myself to the fact that there just isn't anything to see while standing in the midst of your typical mid-size American city, when lo and behold, I read the magic USA Today article. To quote:

Even with a moderate-size telescope that is 3 inches in diameter and magnifies 100 times, gazers should be able to see dark markings on the surface of the planet and the southern polar cap of frozen carbon dioxide.

Through a telescope that size, Mars should appear to be the same size as a full moon appears to the naked eye, says Don Parker, an amateur astronomer in Coral Gables, Fla.

What? My 60mm lens is actually about 2.5 inches, and I know this cheap telescope isn't gong to do 175x at any decent quality. But at least we should be able to see a big blurry bright circle, instead of a dot that doesn't seem any larger than if we look at it directly! I think I'm doing something wrong.