Jan 25th, Mars in fair seeing, Saturn in GOOD seeing

[Quark]

Hi All,

Imaged Mars this morning in reasonable seeing. Have attached an RGB and 807nm data set. Both have been resampled 120%. There are clouds to be seen over Olympus Mons and the volcanoes in the Tharsis region.
Both the G and B channel contributed to the saturation of the icecap. This week has been the first time I have used the Flea3 for Mars and I am still experimenting.

Following on from Mars I acquired Saturn, initially in fair seeing, about 5 to 6/10. The seeing just kept improving all the way up to the morning twilight and peaked at about 8/10. Have attached a couple of RGB & 807nm IR data sets along with a link to a very hi-res animation.
Of great interest are two distinct white spots within the Great Storm remnant that are really hi-lighted by the animation. There are also three Moons visible with Tethys below and to the left then clockwise from there and above are Dione and Rhea.

http://www.iceinspace.com.au/uploads/s2012-01-25_tba_rgb02.gif


Thanks for looking.
Regards
Trevor

[Fletcher]

Superb images, Trevor! Cassini is continuing to show that the storm aftermath is active in the infrared, and there's lots of chaotic turbulence down there in the troposphere still.... And thanks for pointing me to this website :-)

Leigh

[jjjnettie]

:) thanks for the views Trevor.

[Clayton]

A very nice set Trevor :thumbsup:
Loads of detail:)
Love the clouds on Mars ATM, and Saturn is nice and crisp

[Quark]

Thanks Rob, have had some very stable air to image through over the last few days although most of it has also been accompanied by cloud wafting through from the North. This data however was not effected by cloud at all and has produced my best data for this apparition.



Thanks Jeanette, this year is shaping up to be a great improvement over the final few months of 2011. This is the first time with my new optics that I have had seeing of this level.



Thanks very much for the update Leigh. I have measured the position of these two bright spots in WinJUPOS, the three Moons in the field made for a pretty accurate alignment. The spots are at approx CMIII 116 Lat +45.5 and CMIII 167 Lat + 46.1
I suppose time on the VLT for imaging structure within the storm remnant will be harder to justify now. Last apparition was just so exceptional, it is looking a bit bland now compared to back then but it is still my favorite target.

[bird]

Lovely images Trev - I also tried for this morning, but found the never-ending cloud...

and hi to Leigh, good to see you down here as well!

cheers, Bird

[Lester]

Thanks for the wonderful views Trevor, I appreciate them also.

All the best.

[Matt Wastell]

Thanks Trevor! I am enjoying the Mars images with high clouds of late - keep sharing please!

[Shiraz]

very fine images Trevor - nothing "bland" about these. Regards Ray

[John Hothersall]

Saturn rings are so crisp and good detail with both sets athough some ringing which is being experienced by many with Mars. Avi really shows the storm residue shape as it is quite thin and unremarkable in the stills.

John.

[davidpretorius]

Superb work Trevor

[Quark]

Thanks very much Bird, the detail in the Saturn live feed was very crisp, this is the best data I have captured since installing the new primary and I think the quality of the optics really helped to optimize the conditions. Hope the cloud clears for you, looking forward to what you can produce with your new mirror, already it looks very promising.



Thanks very much Lester as I also appreciate the most excellent coverage you have supplied of Comet Lovejoy.



Thanks very much Matt, I still have some work to do regarding more experimentation with the gain levels for the G & B channels with Mars. The last time I imaged Mars was with the DMK and the greater sensitivity of the Flea3 means a rethink is required to handle the problem of saturation of the icecap.



Thanks very much Ray, must say I am pretty pleased with getting some detail within the B ring and seeing the planet through the Cassini division. I never tire of observing Saturn and look forward to following how the storm remnant dissipates.



Thanks John, the bright spots within the Saturn storm remnant stood out for me. I have been chasing down detail like that for several years now, but for sure, the animation really does accentuate them. For me Mars is a secondary target and I have only been doing one data set while waiting for Saturn to rise higher. Still need to work on my capture regime for Mars with the Flea3, it is so much more sensitive than was the DMK.

[Quark]

Thanks very much David, it was nice to get some good data to work with.

[Kevnool]

Not much data for the last few days Trev.
How did the obs hold up?

[Quark]

Thats for sure Kev, had to break out the snorkel & flippers. Had 3 1/2 inches of rain since Friday afternoon and still raining. The forecast is for mostly clear sky for tomorrow morning ,so I will be up at 2:30 am and give it a crack. Have not ventured down to the observatory since the rain started but it should be ok.

Cheers
Trevor