Mars
2003
This was my first attempt at photographing a planet with my Philips ToUCam Pro. I got it because Mars was going to be at its closest during its 35 year cycle of oppositions. In fact, Mars was closer than it had been in 60,000 years. All these pictures were taken with a 10" Meade LX-50 telescope.
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This is a comparison of details from my photograph of September 9th and a photograph taken with the Hubble Space Telescope on August 27th. |
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Solis Lacis, the "Eye of Mars" taken on 9/29/2003 with a 2X Barlow (f/20) |
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Mars taken on 9/30/2003 with a 2X Barlow (f/20) |
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Mars taken on 10/16/2003 |
2005
By the November 2005 opposition, I had traded up my 10" Meade LX-50 for a Takahashi Mewlon 250. All the following images of Mars were taken at f/36 with this telescope and a 3xPowermate.
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Mars on October 14, 2005 |
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Mars on October 14, 2005 |
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Mars on October 14, 2005 |
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Mars on October 21, 2005
These images were taken every 30 minutes and show a large sandstorm. The storm resembles a fox. Its head is laying in Solis Lacis, it legs are a series of parallel dust lanes stretching south (though probably blowing north), and its bushy tail is stretching east towards Argyre. |
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Mars on October 21, 2005
Animation made by combining the above images taken over 30 minutes. |
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Mars on October 31, 2005 |
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Mars on October 31, 2005 |
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Mars on November 20, 2005 |
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Mars on November 20, 2005 |
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Mars on November 20, 2005 |