Map of the Mars 2022 apparition.

[geoflewis]

It took me over 2 months to capture the data for this map, with eight source images being used from data collected from 31 October 2022, through to 3 Jan 2023. As is usual for the UK conditions, even on the clear nights that I could image, were very variable and conditons at Mars itself changed, with imaging starting when there was a dust storm in the southern regions and a strong polar hood to the north. Also some images were captured when Mars was waxing, through it's full phase at opposition on 8 Dec 2022, concluding when Mars was already showing a waning phase.

I tried a couple of versions, in the end opting for a map with the 0° longtitude in the centre, partly as I fell it presends some of the major surface details better, but mostly because the data at the 180° region being quite thin and showing a strong dark band when displayed at the image centre.

It is my first full map of Mars, so thanks for looking.

EDIT: Here's my initial attempt to annotate the map....

 

Edited January 13 by geoflewis
added the annotated map image

[jock1958]

Excellent work Geoff, I bet that took ages to do!! 

[Kon]

Fantastic map! One of the best I have seen. Your eureka moment in shifting the origin has really 'cleaned' it nicely from the image I saw earlier this afternoon. But as you said, it nicely brings the key features in front. Another task for cloudy/rainy days, are you going to annotate it?😁

I am also happy for you that you managed the last couple of sessions to finish it, I remember your frustration.

 

You should try submit it to some magazines, it's worth being published.

[Space Cowboy]

Great work Geof! You've blended the images in nicely. Very consistent detail!

[geoflewis]

6 minutes ago, jock1958 said:

Excellent work Geoff, I bet that took ages to do!! 

Thanks very much. Yes, apart from capuring and processing all the source images over the past couple of months, I think it's taken me several hours, over a couple of days to get the map completed.

[Mart29]

47 minutes ago, geoflewis said:

It took me over 2 months to capture the data for this map, with eight source images being used from data collected from 31 October 2022, through to 3 Jan 2023. As is usual for the UK conditions, even on the clear nights that I could image, were very variable and conditons at Mars itself changed, with imaging starting when there was a dust storm in the southern regions and a strong polar hood to the north. Also some images were captured when Mars was waxing, through it's full phase at opposition on 8 Dec 2022, concluding when Mars was already showing a waning phase.

I tried a couple of versions, in the end opting for a map with the 0° longtitude in the centre, partly as I fell it presends some of the major surface details better, but mostly because the data at the 180° region being quite thin and showing a strong dark band when displayed at the image centre.

It is my first full map of Mars, so thanks for looking.

 

Amazing work and effort put in! Really good 👍 

[geoflewis]

3 minutes ago, Kon said:

Fantastic map! One of the best I have seen. Your eureka moment in shifting the origin has really 'cleaned' it nicely from the image I saw earlier this afternoon. But as you said, it nicely brings the key features in front. Another task for cloudy/rainy days, are you going to annotate it?😁

I am also happy for you that you managed the last couple of sessions to finish it, I remember your frustration.

 

You should try submit it to some magazines, it's worth being published.

Thanks Kostas, yes, it was good to get the missing data for the Syrtis Major region, at the start of January, which allowed me to complete the map. I would like to annotate it, but I'm not sure how to go about that. I might see if I can do it in Affinity Photo. The annotated maps that I have seen, include some diagonal writing, but I'm not sure that I have the tool to do that.

Thanks also for the feedback on the earlier version that I shared with you privately; it gave the confidence to continue and change the longtitude origin, which has worked pretty well. I did also find another early image (the one from 31 October) that included the region east of Olympus Mons, which helped brighten the dark banded area there in my original version.

[geoflewis]

10 minutes ago, Space Cowboy said:

Great work Geof! You've blended the images in nicely. Very consistent detail!

Thanks Stuart, as you will appreciate it is very difficult to get consistent data from the UK, so I'm very pleased with how it turned out.

[geoflewis]

8 minutes ago, Mart29 said:

Amazing work and effort put in! Really good 👍 

Thanks, I really appreciate the feedback and I'm glad that you like it.

[JeremyS]

What a stunning result Geof! 👍🏻

[geoflewis]

15 minutes ago, Kon said:

You should try submit it to some magazines, it's worth being published.

I no longer subscribe to any magazines, but I will upload it to Flickr and share it with the on-line group for https://www.amateurastrophotography.com/, so will see if they pick it up.

[geoflewis]

Just now, JeremyS said:

What a stunning result Geof! 👍🏻

Thanks Jeremy, much appreciated.

[markse68]

That's really good Geof and it would be a fantastic resource annotated as it actually looks like what you see through the ep unlike many others I've seen which I really struggle with! (well it has a lot more detail than what I see but the shapes I mean  )

[geoflewis]

Thanks Mark, I will try to annotate it, but really not sure how to go about that. In case you've not already seen it, a superb reference map can be found on Martin Lewis's (same surname, but not related) Sky Inspector website.... https://skyinspector.co.uk/mars-albedo-maps/

[markse68]

I hadn't and thank you Geof- yes Martin's map is very nice and useful

Mark

[Kon]

39 minutes ago, geoflewis said:

The annotated maps that I have seen, include some diagonal writing, but I'm not sure that I have the tool to do that.

You should be able to rotate the label. It can be done in Gimp, even with basic editing software, Affinity should be able to do it .

https://forum.affinity.serif.com/index.php?/topic/118791-how-to-rotate-text-or-text-box-in-photo/

 

 

 

[Kon]

38 minutes ago, geoflewis said:

I no longer subscribe to any magazines, but I will upload it to Flickr and share it with the on-line group for https://www.amateurastrophotography.com/, so will see if they pick it up.

I am not sure you need to subscribe, try reach out to some editors or their submit photos pages.

[geoflewis]

1 minute ago, Kon said:

You should be able to rotate the label. It can be done in Gimp, even with basic editing software, Affinity should be able to do it .

https://forum.affinity.serif.com/index.php?/topic/118791-how-to-rotate-text-or-text-box-in-photo/

Thanks Kostas, I'll check it out.

[Sunshine]

This is the fist such map of Mars I have seen on SGL, this is great!

[mikeDnight]

That's excellent Geoff. You must have a wonderful sense of achievement and satisfaction.  

[geoflewis]

2 hours ago, Sunshine said:

This is the fist such map of Mars I have seen on SGL, this is great!

Thanks, but please check out Kostas @Kon as he beat me to it a few weeks ago....

[geoflewis]

1 hour ago, mikeDnight said:

That's excellent Geoff. You must have a wonderful sense of achievement and satisfaction.  

Thanks, I'm pretty stoked to have finally got it done. I tried in 2020, but had too many gaps to complete a full surface map.

[geoflewis]

3 hours ago, Kon said:

Another task for cloudy/rainy days, are you going to annotate it?😁

3 hours ago, markse68 said:

That's really good Geof and it would be a fantastic resource annotated as it actually looks like what you see through the ep unlike many others I've seen which I really struggle with! (well it has a lot more detail than what I see but the shapes I mean  )

Hi both, I've had a go at annotating the map, which I've added to my original post so that it's easy to find.....

 

[yelsac]

Wow that's mind blowing, absolutely brilliant. You did a great job 👍

[geoflewis]

1 minute ago, yelsac said:

Wow that's mind blowing, absolutely brilliant. You did a great job 👍

Thanks, I'm equally blown away by all the very generous comments.