Mars 24 September 05

[rumples riot]

Hi all,

finally got back to Mars at 2.30 this morning. After weeks and weeks of clouds I finally got the image below.

LX200 10" GPS UHTC
Powermate 2.5x
Toucam Pro2
Baader IR-UV cut filter

Gain 15%
1/33 sec
5 fps
Gamma 10%
Saturation 75%
Brightness 50%

Seeing 4/10

Processed in Registax3 and final in Astra Image: Deconvolution, gamma, filter

Well this is better than all my previous Mars shots despite the seeing. Mars has got real big in the last 4 weeks. Just as a comparison I will include a previous image.

[RapidEye]

Looks nice - congrats!

[h0ughy]

very nice!

[RB]

Excellent work Paul.

:thumbsup:

[seeker372011]

well done Paul especially since you say the seeing was ordinary

Obviously resistance is futile..will have to try Mars myself one of these nights--- even though I don't expect to have anything good enough to post, going by my past attempts at planets

[rumples riot]

Hey thanks guys, am especially glad because if you look hard enough toward the North I think I got Olympus Mons also, it is a little white spot near the northern polar hood.

[asimov]

Very nice rumples! I've given up on astro-shooting, I'll just sit back & enjoy the great shots such as yours.

[rumples riot]

Yeah weather conditions have been aweful, pity you don't live closer you could come down and we could image together. Thanks for the praise. Hopefully we can all get together soon and have a night of imaging and viewing.

[gbeal]

Nice shot(s) Paul, good to see you having a crack at it. Congrats on the recent M42 shot as well.
Gary

[asimov]

Yeah, I'm certainly just that bit too far away from Adealaide to get there very often. My forced early retirement makes it that much harder as well. I'm happy with my photographic results from a cheap kodak though. Now that I've learnt how to take AVI & stack etc. I'm just waiting for Saturn to come around. I know I can get acceptable results from the gas giants.

[atalas]

Great shots Paul !

Louie :thumbsup:

[rumples riot]

Hey thanks Gary, just dumb luck with the M42, been reading your articles too, wish you had been able to go into more depth, but was still good to see local imput.

Asimov, if you are in town ever, give me a email first and we could catchup. Saturn is slowly making its way back to us or should I say we are making our way around to it. I hope opposition this year is a little better than last year.

Thanks Louie glad you like the shot.

[LT_Ng]

Paul,

Those are good images, especially the color. I like them very much.

However, they look a little soft. Do they affect by the unsteady air or inaccurate focus?

LT

[rumples riot]

LT, probably more to do with the seeing, but as you know focus is very difficult when seeing is bad. Thanks for your comments.

BTW saw your great images on CN tonight. Very cool.

[asimov]

Thanks for that Rumples. No doubt I'll get to the big-smoke one of these days..