chiltonstar

....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

1 hour ago, Chrb1985 said:

Wow! This is nice! Just wondering if it's really 1.4x? Seems to bigger. I used to own a make 180 before I swapped it in for the c11 I had about 2x barlow on my mak180 and I can't rember it getting this big. 

Anyway! Really nice image

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

13 hours ago, John said:

Quite possibly. It is still distinctly resolvable even with the 90mm mak-cass but it's a small feature.

Jupiters GRS looks smaller to me this year as well.

 

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

2 hours ago, dweller25 said:

Excellent 👍

What date and time was this ?

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

20 hours ago, CraigT82 said:

Fantastic work Peter, I dream of getting the Encke gap! 

So do I! A move 20 degrees south might help.

Superb image given the low altitude.

Chris

8 hours ago, astroman001 said:

Hi Chris. Here is a good guide to using WinJUPOS

https://www.skyatnightmagazine.com/astrophotography/astrophoto-tips/use-winjupos-derotate-planetary-images/

Peter

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

1 hour ago, astroman001 said:

That's a great result with a 180 Mak. Lots of detail visible. Taking several images and combining in WinJUPOS would increase the smoothness.

Peter

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

Nice sketch Mike! I don't know how you have the patience.

Chris

Last night's view of Mars was probably the best I've had so far this year. With my 180 Mak, I found I got the best view with a 0.9 Baader ND filter, and even at its current altitude, my ADC helped a bit with contrast. Best magnification was x250 once the scope had settled and Mars had risen a bit (24:00). I could see a few of the details that I'd captured in an image the night before I think including the albedo area around Olympus Mons.

Chris

Another attempt from last night. I'm quite pleased that Olympus Mons is visible with the Tharsis volcanoes, and the structure around Valles Marineris including the Hebes Chasma I think (experts will correct me if I'm wrong). Odd that the S Polar Cap is now apparently asymmetric (repeatable on other avi's. is it shrinking?

180 Mak, ADC, ASI224 MC camera, 1.5x Barlow, best 2000 from 5000 frames.

Chris

Just now, CraigT82 said:

Thats a beaut! Nicely done. Great image scale too, were you  barlowed or have you resized?  I think you've captured Olympus Mons and the Tharsis volcanoes.

I think so, judging by the map I'm using (AN's poster of a couple of years ago).

I used a 2x barlow shortened to give ca. x1.5 ( ie f22)

Chris

Another try at Mars last night, thwarted by a bank of cloud which appeared after 20 minutes or so. 180 Mak, ADC, ASI224 MC camera. 2000/5000 frames processed in Autostakkert/PS.

The seeing was fairly rubbish, although there were one or two very short intervals where huge amounts of detail were visible by eye, difficult to capture with a camera though for a rank amateur! Nice to see some of the low contrast detail though.

Chris

I can't imagine how you look and sketch as well! A lovely rendition.

Chris