Beautiful image Anthony! Excellent work. The lighter patches do look like dust activity, but I haven't been keeping up with the activity on Mars this season.
It looks like clouds or material being blown off of the NPC.
Have you sent this to Richard McKim, he is the Mars Guru of the B.A.A and would be sure to provide a most accurate analysis of this cloud or dust feature in your image. If you have, I would be interested in what he makes of it.
Regardless this is a most detailed image and as you have mentioned, the artifact at the limb seems to be certainly related to the seeing and is definitely not as apparent in this image as previously. The phase continues to change so I look forward to more of your work in better seeing.
In my opinion this is the best effort yet, that I have seen, from the Southern Hemisphere for this apparition
Hi Anthony
Super image of Mars - one of the best to date!
I will get out to look at Mars a little later this month / January. Thanks for the inspiration.
Nice image Anthony with lovely detail. I really must get my butt out and do some imaging of Mars soon. I keep looking at the images presented here and elsewhere and say to myself I am not getting any data on this planet. I have been busy being over taken by the dark side with this DSO imaging caper. Can't do everything at once though and I do enjoy looking at your images.
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