orion25

The Eye of Mars is watching you, lol. Great image, Peter! Regards, Reggie

Thanks, Gus

Thanks, Iain

Identification of some more features I was able to image, including Solis Lacus, "the eye of Mars":

A night of great seeing resulted in one of my best overall images of Mars and my first-ever image of Olympus Mons! The south polar cap, though small, was becoming more prominent, and a number of dark albedo features were on display: Equipment: Orion SkyView Pro 180mm Mak-Cass, ZWO ASI 224MC, Celestron 2x barlow Post-Processing: Registax 6, Photoshop I was quite pleased and pleasantly surprised to capture Mons which I wasn't sure was possible without more aperture. Regards, Reggie

Great animation, Michael. Love seeing Olympus Mons rotating! Reggie

Thanks. tooth_dr!

I had an almost exceptionally clear night for the opposition (save for some brief passing cirrus clouds). Mars was brilliant and offered great detail. Mare Sirenum and Mare Cimmerium were easily visible. I could barely make out the south polar cap (it was easier using my #82 lt. blue filter). Here is an image from last night's data: Orion 180mm Mak-Cass, Orion 5MP StarShoot Solar System Camera, Celestron 2x barlow, processed in Registax, Photoshop Regards, Reggie

Excellent, Michael! Can't wait for the animation Regards, Reggie

Olympus Mons, oh my! Great image! Regards, Reggie

Brilliant!

Here is a composite image of Mars at perigee in 2020 and in 2018. What a difference two years make! Cheers! Reggie

The ZWO ASI 224MC is a great little planetary cam. I just attached an IR/UV filter (that you can order along with the camera) and a Celestron 2x barlow and I was off to the races. I waited until Mars was at a high elevation for best seeing. It was a great night.

Thanks, Spacecake2. I used a more sensitive camera this time and captured more frames. I'm getting the hang of my little ZWO, lol!

Mars from October 7, 2020, the evening after its closest approach, using the ZWO ASI 221MC planetary camera, the Celestron 2x Barlow lens and the Orion StarMax 127mm Mak-Cass telescope: Cheers! Reggie