Mars 2008 Jan 16 and 17

[darditti]

I managed to image just after midnight on both these dates, but seeing was always rather poor. It was also windy. I have tried to make the best of these rather blurry images by processing them with an R-derived luminance layer (RRGB), though there is always a hard-to-avoid temptation in this situation to over-process.

Nevertheless, some interesting atmospheric detail has come out, particularly on the 16th, with wispy blue cloud bands over Argyre and Thaumasia.

(If you can't see see the colour ones scroll to the right)

David

David

[Kaptain Klevtsov]

Fabulous detail David.

Kaptain Klevtsov

[SteelRat]

Well worth a scroll to the right - nice results David 8)

Cheers

Matthew(SR)

[Sam]

They are really great - well done!

[Cloudwatcher]

:D and then some!

Cheers

CW

[legion48]

You bagged a great pair there David.

[barkis]

Your efforts have rewarded you David, those are very fine images you have produced there.

Loads of detail, and the planet is well on it's way ahead of us now.

Ron.

[darditti]

Thanks, people. Good to be appreciated.

Mars is certainly shrinking fast now, and with the weather we are having, I think this is about the end of the good detail 'till 2012, which I believe is the next close opposition. With luck I could be wrong...

David

[geoff_k]

David

Unlike my poor efforts, which you have already passed judgement on, yours are excellent.

Geoff

[darditti]

I didn't wish to be disparaging, Geoff, is very hard with an f4.8 scope. It can be done, but it needs a very good Powermate at a long extension, or doubled-up Barlows to get the scale up enough, without introducing aberrations.

David

[Trevor]

Hi David

Have you tried an 742nm IR filter on any of your Avi‘s?

Just wondering what the Avi’s would look like, detail wise.

Trev.

[darditti]

Have you tried an 742nm IR filter on any of your Avi‘s?

Just wondering what the Avi’s would look like, detail wise.

Yes, I have. Here are some which include the 742nm filter, and some which don't, from the same night in October. I have done a lot of tests comparing the effects of various red and IR filters. My conclusions from these are that the best results on Mars are given by the normal red filter with IR block. There is a general idea amongst a lot of imagers that you get more detail with an IR filter, but I have found this is not the case with Mars. What you do get is more contrast, which is not the same thing, but, particularly with a small scope under poor conditions, it can seem to be revealing more detail. IR images of Mars are very contrasty, but they loose the subtle fine detail you get in the visual red. I think you will understand what I mean from these examples. However, I did find the 742nm filter very effective in getting detail out of Jupiter when it was very low last year (as it will be again this year).

David

[russ]

superb images, awesome detail.

[Sam Bo]

Stunning pics David. Its making me rethink the type of scope i want..lol

[Sam]

Wow - now I'm really jealous! Those images are great.

Sam