Mars 2003/9/6 21:50 -- 0:50 EST

2003/9/6 21:50 -- 0:50 EST (9/7 1:50 -- 4:50 UT). Mars rotation. No, Mars wasn't coming closer and closer. As it got higher in the sky, I could afford to use higher and higher magnification, so it looked larger. Weather was bad with thin clouds. Diameter=24.6", CM=265--307. Tonight was the first time I saw Phobos through the Brashear scope.

Mars 2003/9/6

2003/9/6 0:00 EST (9/6 4:00 UT). Mars. Diameter=24.7", CM=309.

Mars 2003/9/4

2003/9/4 23:00 EST (9/5 3:00 UT). Mars. Compare it to 2003/8/2 and notice the much smaller south polar cap. Diameter=24.8", CM=302. 150 frames.

Mars 2003/8/28

2003/8/28 23:30 EST (3:30 UT). Mars. diameter=25.1", CM=12. 166 frames. Seeing somewhat poor.

Mars 2003/8/27

2003/8/27 22:50 EST (2:50 UT). Mars. diameter=25.1", CM=13. 385 frames. Seeing was poor.

Mars 2003/8/19

2003/8/19 2:00 EST (6:00 UT). Mars. diameter=24.8", CM=137. 400 frames. Seeing was good today, more details can be resolved than usual.

Mars 2003/8/15 (1)

Mars 2003/8/15 (2)

Simulation by T. Ikemura

2003/8/15 1:55 EST (5:55 UT). Mars diameter=24.4", CM=165.
(1) 10 photos stacked with Registax. Each photo with Nikon 995 camera, UGA (1600x1200) mode, 1/60 second, F5.1, f31mm (max zoom), ISO 400, sunny white balance. The camera was connected to an 8"/f6 Dob with a 2x barlow and 18mm eyepiece/adapter.
(2) 550 frames stacked with Registax. Handheld camcorder behind a 9mm eyepiece.
It seems in my setup, camcorder is better than digital camera. Most likely it is because with camcorder one can take more frames.

Mars 2003/8/2

2003/8/2 Light fog but good seeing. These photos show the rotation of Mars in one hour. The left two were taken at 2:10 EDT (6:10 UT), and the third one at 3:10 EDT (7:10 EDT). The images are taken with an 8"/f6 Dob + 9mm eyepiece + handheld camcorder, digitized to 320x240 frames, and processed with Registax. South is up, west at left.

Mars and the Moon 2003/7/17

Mars and the Moon, zoomed in. 2003/7/17

3D image pair

Mars 2003/7/17

Seeing was bad; no details can be seen on Mars. I took these photos with an 8"/f6 Dob, 18mm eyepiece/adapter, Nikon Coolpix 995 camera from Pittsburgh, PA, at around 4:41 EDT when the two was closest as seen from Pittsburgh. The 3 dimensional image pair was taken 2 minutes apart. You'll find the Moon floating on top of the background and Mars. Finally, this 1024x768 image of Mars and the Moon may be used as a wallpaper.

Mars 2003/7/13

2003/7/13 5:00 EDT. Mars through dense, dense fog! The major dark feature is Mare Sirenum. The images were taken with an 8"/f6 Dob + 9mm eyepiece + handheld camcorder, digitized to 320x240 frames, and processed with Registax. South is up, west at left. The simulation image was created by T. Ikemura of Japan.

Mars 2003/6/24

2003/6/24 5:15 EDT. With the past few days being clear, the sky turned hazy but seeing was more steady. I was able to see and capture more details. The prominent dark feature is Sinus Meridiani and Sinus Sabaeus. The images are taken with an 8"/f6 Dob + 9mm eyepiece + handheld camcorder, digitized to 320x240 frames, and processed with Registax. South is up, west at left.

Mars 2003/6/22

2003/6/22 The first view of mars this year at 5am! Sky cleared after several weeks of rain, but it's so wet almost everything dewed up. Seeing was not great either. Nevertheless at 200x Mars showed a large, bright, white, south polar cap, and some (not very distinctive) dark features. The images are taken with an 8"/f6 Dob + 9mm eyepiece + handheld camcorder, digitized to 320x240 frames, and processed with Registax. South is up, west at left.