chiltonstar

I used the B&Q material for putting behind radiators with my 180 Mak. As well as greatly reducing cooling effects, it has also virtually wiped out dewing on the front corrector surface. Chris

180 Mak - just 7" aperture. Chris

A couple here Dave (I've put the BAA map alongside for the same time, to id features. Chris

Good to see a 'frac image of Mars! Yes, the seeing wasn't wonderful was it. I found there were the odd second or two of half decent seeing, but then the swimming pool effect set in and the image wobbled around for ten minutes or so.

With my 127 Mak, a 6mm EP is indeed near to the limit, as MrFreeze says! Needed though for Saturn for example to really bring out the ring detail. You will only be able to use it when the seeing is excellent or better. I had an old Plossl 6mm but bought a (much better) 6mm Baader Ortho. Beware though, the eye relief is small and you will find yourself cleaning the outer surface of the lens to remove eyelash grease. Chris

Nice sketch - I wish I could draw! I was out at the same time and tried a little experiment. By eye, I could see pretty much what you've sketched, plus some detail in the northern (lighter) half of the disk, including Olympus Mons which was very obvious. I then put the camera in instead of my zoom eyepiece, and looked at the image on the laptop. This gave more detail, and being able to turn the gain up and down meant I had in effect a variable ND filter. Finally, I imaged it in the normal way with a couple of 90 sec captures - this showed even more detail including Sinus Gomer which I think I've only seen once visually (with an EP) when the seeing was really excellent. Chris

....but we won't see Mars as well as this again for a long time I think! Last night at 23:45 (22:45 UT). 2000/10000 frames with a 180 Mak, ADC and AS1224 colour camera, barlowed to ca. f24. The seeing was less than average, with frequent wobbles and shimmering. By eye, Olympus Mons was very clear, and it is visible in the image as well. I couldn't see Sinus Gomer at all visually, but it has shown up in the image after processing (Autostakkert, PS). The poorer seeing than a couple of nights before has brought up the dark artefact on the W side of Mars. I've pasted a Mars map from the BAA website for the same time next to the image. Chris

It was a lovely sight last night, wasn't - despite the dew! I seem to have cured it on the scope, but the finder still drips. Chris

I have used the figure from Baader, but I've not measured it. It may be an illusion - I've used a frame size of 640x480 to speed up sampling with my laptop to give a 12ms frame rate, which makes Mars look bigger than it is in pixel terms. Chris

Thanks for the comments! I've taken on of the images from the above sequence (10 avi's of 90 secs each) and oriented it to match the BAA real time Mars mapper. Chris

Last night's view with my 180 Mak; ADC, ASI224MC, Baader 1.4x Barlow, 2000/10000 frames processed in Autostakkert and PS. The seeing was good, or a little better, although the gusts of wind proved a bit of a challenge. The N Polar haze and the bright haze patch on the SW limb were easily visible visually as well as on the image. Chris

I've found that even with Mars as high as it is, there is some atmospheric dispersion (using a 180 Mak) and an ADC helps, certainly the N and S polar areas look a lot better/clearer than without. With my 102mm Vixen objective f13 frac, there is less apparent AD although if I wind the magnification up to the same levels I would use with the Mak, I think there's probably not much in it. Chris

I agree; a week or so ago it looked liked a "snowman" shape to me, and looking two nights ago and taking some pics it looks as though the small head of the snowman has gone leaving just the circular or elliptical part. Definitely smaller. Chris

Last night, ca. 23:30 Chris

Very spectacular visually last night (x190) with the haze around the N polar region easily visible and a patch of haze on the SW limb as well. I put the camera in as the seeing was reasonably good, and the contrast of the features very impressive. 180 Mak, ADC, ASI224 MC camera, 1.5x barlow, 2000/10000 frames stacked in Autostakkert, sharpened in Registax and finished in PS. The orientation is actual (S Polar cap at the bottom, W limb on the RHS). Chris

Looking last night at 23:00, I could see a definite haze in the N Hemisphere, plus two brighter patches showing on the bright side (may just be albedo features). I took a few images, eg attached which hint at the haze. Chris

Great sequence - I'm horrified at how quickly Mars seems to rotate in subsequent images. An evening to master WinJupos definitely required. Chris

Two evenings back - 180 Mak, ADC, ASI224 MC, 2000 frames of 8000. I've tried to get the colou, contrast and visual appearance as close as I can to what I could see through the eyepiece at x240. Chris

Impressive resolution! Chris

Rather poor seeing, with only a few frames usable - best of 10,000 frames with a 180 Mak/ADC/AS1224 MC. Skysafari screen shot w and w/out annotation shown for the same time. Chris

As someone once said, "size isn't everything". It's all about making the very best use of what you've got, surely? Chris

So do I! A move 20 degrees south might help. Superb image given the low altitude. Chris

Many thanks for this - I'm trying to get as sharp an image as 7" will allow, and every little helps. With a stack of two files, there doesn't seem to be any blurring but eight may create a problem I suppose. As far as I can see, my sharpening and deconvolution haven't created any false detail, but I have hit it hard. For example, the above sharpened more and a survey image of Mars (SkySafari) for the same time - the detail looks genuine. Chris

Thanks for this. This was two files combined in PIPP, but I'd love to try all 8 with Winjupos (any recommendations for an 'idiot's guide')? I noticed that an amazing image you posted was combined with WJ. Chris

Another view with a little scope (180 Mak). The seeing was no better than average, with a better patch once or twice. 2000/8000 frames. Autostakkert, PS. Although higher in the sky now, I could still see an improvement using the ADC. Chris