Bright side of Mars

[Anth10 (Anthony M)]

Hi everyone, I've been a keen novice for 15 years and with help from my like minded astro mates have been introduced to the challenging field of astrophotography(What have I got myself into??).
With all the hype around Mars and its pending opposition I managed my first image of the Red Planet 2am Saturday showing part of the Tharis region at approx 160 longitude. This image was captured afocal using a canon S110 with my 10" Newt.

[Atmos (Colin)]

It is a nice start You can see some of the larger structures and even bits of cloud cover

[Anth10 (Anthony M)]

Thanks Colin, I'm intending to try a capture with my Canon 60D next, although focusing may present a problem with eyepiece projection having the Newtonian. Time will tell.

[Mickoid (Michael)]

Anth,
That's one hell of a shot using the afocal method, have not seen anyone post a shot of Mars using that method before. Have you tried any other planets using this method? I have seen some guys posting shots using an iPhone but never with a small compact camera like the S110, that's a really nice camera you have there.
If you're getting that quality afocally, I can't wait to see what you'll get using the Canon 60d with eyepiece projection. Well done and keep up the good work.

[Anth10 (Anthony M)]

Thanks for your encouragement Mickoid, there is a lot to consider when adjusting focal train and t-mounts to achieve proper focus for imaging using a newtonian. The neq6 is carrying near on its limit with my assembly but as you may agree its all worth the effort in the end. This shot I took the same way at a similar time last year of Saturn.

[Rick Parrott]

Both great shots!

[Mickoid (Michael)]

Wow, you certainly know what you're doing when it comes to afocal imagery. That's a fantastic shot, I would be struggling to achieve better using the eyepiece projection method. Thanks for posting that great shot of Saturn.

[Anth10 (Anthony M)]

Thanks Rick & Mickoid, seeing is paramount in most situations particularly with planetry imaging, tracking is not as important since Pipp and Autostakert programs both solve for any eccentricities. Intelligent astro programers have opened up a world of possibilities for us amateurs - we can achieve images that bring the universe to our eyes!