Mars 9th March - best Mars so far!

[John Hothersall]

SPX350 F36.3, PGRFlea3, Astrodon filters.

Five hours of avg and below avg seeing with two 5min windows of calmness allowing me to get something and the Mars image turned out to be my best so far near 7/10 seeing. I have always wanted to get Olympus Mons since 2007 but it never moves on to the disc - I always get Syrtis and Sinus Sabaeus only!

Saturn was taken in fair seeing but mostly seeing was below avg even though the stars were quite calm, the wind picked up at 2am so I went to bed quite pleased with Mars.

Mars-1336hrs. Resized 130pc.
Saturn-1452hrs.

Thanks, John.

[Hans Tucker (Hans)]

Mars 9th March - best Mars so far!


Yes....Yes it is....and your Saturn looks awesome.

[asimov (John)]

Very Nice John! Mars is a forgiving war god when it comes to seeing. Can't wait for you to get an 8+/10!

[Shark Bait (Stu)]

Originally Posted by John Hothersall

Five hours of avg and below avg seeing with two 5min windows of calmness allowing me to get something and the Mars image turned out to be my best so far near 7/10 seeing. I have always wanted to get Olympus Mons since 2007 but it never moves on to the disc - I always get Syrtis and Sinus Sabaeus only!

Brilliant images John. Your description confirms my concerns regarding poor seeing. I was having a lot of difficulty getting a good look at Mars over a lengthy visual observing session. Saturn was sharp, with the Cassini Division easily observed but it was rare for Mars to give up some of its surface details. I did get to see the polar ice cap and some of the darker areas, but overall I was a little disappointed. Your image fills in the blanks. Thanks.

[SkyViking (Rolf)]

Amazing, thats a stunning Mars image you captured there John, congratulations And Saturn looks great too.

[cybereye (Mario)]

Wow!

Well haven't you raised the bar with your rendition of Mars. Amazing detail and it shows what a bit of patience will get you.

Cheers,
Mario

[Matt Wastell (Matt)]

Congratulations John - always nice to get a PB! A stunning image!

[Clayton]

Well done John
Both are beautiful images

[lepton3 (Ivan)]

Excellent result John, some really fine detail visible. Every right to be pleased with that!

-Ivan

[Shiraz (Ray)]

Top images John. Regards ray

[Dennis]

Hi John

What a superb Mars image and a far from shabby Saturn – really nice work.

I was outdoors too, until around midnight, trying to image the Moon and just couldn’t fathom why, despite the indicators suggesting it should be above average seeing, my images just lacked that snap and punch.

Thanks for corroborating this – you have just saved me hours and hours punching the AVI’s through AVIStack tomorrow!

Cheers

Dennis

[von Tom (Tom)]

Very nice Mars John - I sure hope you were out shooting last night as the seeing was very good!

[Varangian (John)]

Wow, great pics, congratulations

[Quark (Trevor)]

Congrats John on this very fine Mars, lovely detail and Saturn is more than respectable also.

Regards
Trevor