Mars + Saturn March 17th in good seeing.

[Quark]

Hi All,

Had a night of extended very good seeing at 7/10.

Have attached 2 RGB Mars images, I could have got more detail by adding some IR or a synthetic "G" but I am very happy with how these turned out with just RGB. There is some nice cloud on the Western limb in both images and cloud of several volcano's the most notable of which is Olympus Mons.

Continued on with my imaging of Saturn, the seeing was very good right through to my final capture of this 5 hr 45 min capture session.

I have not labeled the features on the 5 RGB's presented here but I will attempt to describe the features of interest.

Sat 1
Note the small white spot just the the West of centre in the SEB, I believe this to be a long lived cloud feature.

Sat 2
The white spot in the SEB is now over to the East and a black dot can now be seen that has come in from the West, this is the shadow of the moon Dione. Very close to the shadow, just to the west and slightly South is a tiny white dot which is Dione.

Sat 3
The black Shadow of Dione is very well defined in this image, Dione is the tiny white spot almost touching the shadow slightly West and above.

Sat 4
The SED's related storm that I am tracking has just come into view in the STrZ over on the western limb in the upper part of the image.

Sat 5
The storm is now clearly visible, it was visible in the live feed of both R & G channels.

I have also attached an animation using 6 of my 7 RGB's, look closely at the amazing amount of movement in the atmosphere just below the ring plane on the border of the NEB.

Thanks for looking
Regards
Trevor

[Clayton]

Great stuff as usual Trevor. The animation really shows the detail in the bands.

[duncan]

Hi Trevor,
Fantastic images, i really cant say much more.
After just spending an hour or more looking through your site and your setup i'm actually quite pleased with my recent attempts, given the very basic setup i've got. Thanks for the help and advice on previous posts.
It has given me hope,inspiration and determination to do better in the future.Thanks again.
Cheers,
Duncan:thumbsup:

[bird]

Excellent work as usual Trevor - you're getting some nice seeing up there :-)

cheers, Bird

[Garyh]

Nice Saturn and Mars Trevor. The clouds on Mars stand out real nicely and the animation of Sat shows the dynamics nicely!!

[Lester]

Fantastic Trevor. The ripples in the banding on Saturn are outstanding in the animation, I have never seen them before.

All the best.

[Paul Haese]

No clouds and good seeing makes for good images. :thumbsup:

[Quark]

Thanks Clayton, I really am most pleased with this animation and the amount of rippling that it reveals.



Thanks very much Duncan for your comments and for taking the time to check out my website. It is not all that long ago that I was using the Meade DSI and ToUcam, we all have to start somewhere and the progression can be a most enjoyable one, As Buzz Lightyear would say "To Infinity and Beyond".



Thanks very much Bird, love these high pressure systems, they provide really stable air to image through. Also looking forward to the results of your testing with this new Sony chip. I think a more sensitive CCD would produce even better results with the seeing and generally cloud free sky's that we get out in this neck of the wood.



Thanks Gary, Richard McKim at the B.A.A also commented on the cloud in these Mars images and I think this is the best Saturn animation I have ever put together, regarding the level of rippling that it reveals.




Thanks very much Lester for your most generous remarks, I really do appreciate them.



Thanks Paul, yes, I am fortunate to get the opportunities that my geographic location provides me. I probably should have tallied up the number of nights of good seeing that I had last year, would have been a considerable number. I think I could do better though with a more sensitive CCD, might have to start saving up, I think.

[Troy]

Nice pictures Trevor :)

[Matt Wastell]

Super images - now for some sleep?

[Kevnool]

Great images yet again Trev.
Have been looking up.
Cheers Kev.

[Quark]

Thanks Troy, had pretty stable air all night.



Thanks Matt, as I get older I find the mind to be most willing and wanting to hang in for that extra set of RGB's while the body is saying, enough, go to bed.



Thanks Kev, if you stay away much longer you may have to change your postal address. ;)
Sure have had some bonza observing conditions of late.