Farewell to Mars 2020

[cometcatcher]

Mars in excellent seeing tonight Dec 01 2020. The best seeing I've had this season. A pity it wasn't at it's closest. It's receding from Earth fast now at only 14.5". The southern hemisphere has a light dusting.

Skywatcher PDS300 12" F5 Newtonian at F15, Svbony SV305, modified NEQ6 Pro.
Captured in sharpcap, stacked in AS!3, processed in PS.

I'll keep on shooting Mars but at the rate it's receding, less and less surface detail will stand out.

[N1]

That's an awesome view of the receding planet. It was a good opposition year overall I think, although I did not manage any shots nearly as good as this. Plenty of visual observing though. Keep'em coming Kevin!

[Saturnine]

Great image of Mars considering its angular size now.

[Camelopardalis]

That's a cracker, Kevin, well done :thumbsup:

[cometcatcher]

Thanks all. Yes, I think this year was the best Mars year for me. 2018 was wrecked by a global dust storm and I didn't have the gear or know how for planetary.

[rustigsmed]

nice work Kevin - you've got some great detail there, and very nicely processed too. i've got some power or electronic issues with my goto dob so haven't been back out for a while.

[Anth10]

Nice Kevin.
That 12” really packs a punch. You’re going to have some real fun with this.

Mars was a treat and good to see you image it in its waning phase.
Cheers
Anth

[cometcatcher]

Thanks Russell and Anth. Sure am having fun with the 12". Gonna have to piggyback the ED100 on it for the Jupiter / Saturn conjunction. Poor NEQ6 lol.

[Mick]

Nice work Kevin.

[cometcatcher]

Thanks Mick!