Mars through it's approach to Earth in 2016, also charting my slowly improving skills on my first proper foray into planetary imaging. All season, the north pole (top) has been tipped marginally towards us, and the Martian northern hemisphere has been experiencing late summer, with the Martian equinox occurring in early July. Mars has also been headed towards perihelion in October. The North polar cap was never prominent, but bright clouds of the South Polar Hood were a regular feature, and particularly earlier in the period, bright clouds over the volcanoes were fairly common (apparently a spring/early summer feature as water vapour migrates equatorward). Volcanoes, albedo features and Martian weather have been fun to track through the season.
The last image was 31st July, the northern polar hood appears brighter as that pole tips to winter. Polar hood clouds have gradually appeared in the north over the past month or two, as better documented by John Hothersall's amazing images.
I'm wondering what I'll be able to resolve on a tiny Mars in Aug-Oct as the seasons head to northern winter, and the springtime south pole tips into view.
Larger view
here.
