2018 in planets

[andyc]

Well, it was a pretty decent year for Jupiter, Saturn and Mars approaching in turn at our latitudes :D

This image has one frame per month for each planet. Each one grows and shrinks as they approach Earth in turn - Jupiter in early May, Saturn in June, and Mars in July. Shadows and phases shift from pointing to the right early in the year, to pointing to the left after each planet reaches opposition. The closer the planet, the more dramatic the variation in size.

Just as Mars gets big, a global dust storm blankets the planet in June, then features slowly emerge through July and August as the storm begins to subside. Remarkable bright polar storms have been a feature on Saturn since April. Unfortunately some bad luck has meant my July & August Saturns are a bit fuzzier! There's always lots of lovely storm action on Jupiter, including this year the demise of the South Tropical Disturbance near the Great Red Spot. Ganymede sneaks into March and June's shots.

Full resolution view here (https://photos.app.goo.gl/hdz3P1yN7LVyxXSDA)

All images taken from Sydney with a C14 at f/22, and ASI290MM camera.

[multiweb]

That's amazing. Quite a gallery. :thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup:

[RickS]

A very sweet collection, Andy!

[Dennis]

Wow Andy, that collage is just wonderful, a testimony to the many hours spent gathering and processing data.:)

Stunning views of these planets - thanks!:thumbsup:

Cheers

Dennis

[Camelopardalis]

Cracking shots Andy, well done :thumbsup:

[Hemi]

Wow! And triple Wow.
These are beautiful


Wow!

[Sebbie]

Fantastic collage Andy - love the presentation!

Nice comparison of apparent sizes over time.

Regards,
Seb

[Retrograde]

Fabulous pic and collage. Really tells a story.

[Derek Klepp]

Enjoyed these well done.

[John Hothersall]

Your Jupiters are stunning.

John

[andyc]

Thanks everyone! :thumbsup:

[strongmanmike]

A great looking antipasto platter that Andy, bellissimo! :thumbsup:

Mike

[OICURMT]

Mars - August
Jupiter - April
Saturn - June


Create a montage of them and it'll be in a mag... though I find the "blues" of March for Jupiter, with companion, sublime....


Great work!
OIC!

[Chapstick]

Amazing shots - using TV Powermate x2?

[astronobob]

Excellent work, amazing images & nicely put together Andy, Portrays our Planet Season mighty well indeed - High Credits to you :thumbsup:
Awesome stuff that :thumbsup:

[Kevnool]

Gob smacking images Andy.
This is so great.
Cheers :thumbsup:

[Bart]

Good stuff. Great to see it all on one page like that.

[andyc]

Thanks again, appreciate the positive feedback!

Jared - it's actually a really rather old Meade Series 4000 2x Barlow I got as a teenager in 1994. Given how much it's been bashed about/abused, the coatings must be shot (though the glass is fairly clean), but it still performs well. Am not sure how much a new Barlow would improve the images (!) except I'd actually quite like something that increased the focal length a little less for ideal image scale (the image train is operating at near 9.2m f.l. just now).

[silv]

pretty cool! Mars' southpole ice is receding fast. Made me cycle through Sebbie's (http://www.iceinspace.com.au/forum/search.php?do=finduser&u=13813&starteronly=1) Mars shots over the past 4 months and read a little on Wiki about seasons in a 25 degree tilt, CO2 dry ice cover subliming within days during spring/summer and exposing water ice, which, when it melts, sublimes as well due to low atmospheric pressure. Very interesting. Thank you!

[beaullucas]

Wow! 'Really nice' is an understatement.

[Suzy]

Another WOW from me, what a great collage, and seeing those changes in Mars side by side, so great to see. I love the June one of Jupiter with the moon sneaking out, so beautiful. Chokes me up. Great work Andy. Do you mind if I share on our fb page?

[andyc]

Hi Suzy, thanks, and of course! I don't mind at all, very happy for you to share it :)

[Cobalt]

Stirring montage Andy...viewing your images causes me to have misgivings over selling off some of my equipment due to more pressing needs.