Mars 2018
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These images were taken with a C14 XLT on an AP900GTO mount. I used a QHY290M camera. A Starlight Xpress USB filter wheel was used to produce an RGB image. I used an Astrophysics Advanced Barcon (starting April 23) working at 3X. To capture I used FireCapture 2.5. For processing, I use AutoStakkert and Registax V5 .
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| December 2, 2018
Mediocre seeing today. Mars is getting
smaller and smaller.
Solis Lacus is at the CM of this image. Note that Ganges is still dark. Melas Lacus and Aurorae Sinus can be seen on the right. The South Polar Cap is getting smaller and smaller.
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| November 28, 2018
I finally had some clearing after almost 3
weeks! Seeing was good today.
Olympus Mons is very prominent on these images. Note the clouds around Olympus Mons. The Tharsis volcanoes are difficult to see. Solis Lacus is rising on the right. Mare Sirenum is close to the CM and extending to the left. The South Polar Cap is now very small now!
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| November 8, 2018
Seeing was very poor today. I could
only stack 40% of my frames to get a decent image.
Sinus Sabaeus is at the CM of this image. Sinus Meridiani is rising on the left while Syrtis Major is setting on the right. Hellas is very bright! Note the albedo feature showing up inside Hellas in the IR image.
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| November 7, 2018
We had a few days of cloudy weather due to
the Inter-Tropical Convergence Zone. Seeing was variable with
periods of good seeing.
Sinus
Sabaeus and Sinus Meridiani are very prominent on these images. The
very brigth area on the SE of the image is Hellas. Part Pyrrhae Regio can
be see to the left of Sinus
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| November 2, 2018
Seeing was very unstable today.
Sinus Meridiani and Sinus Sabaeus can be seen on the right. Note the bright spot on the west side of Argyre Planitia. Mare Acidialum and the northern part of Niliacus Lacus is overcast.
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| November 1, 2018
Seeing was close to perfect this evening.
Chryse and Aurorae Sinus are prominent features here. The Ganges is a dark streak. Note the bright cloud Mare Acidalium.
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| October 26, 2018
Seeing was good this evening.
Solis Lacus is at the CM. The Ganges is dark. The three Tharsis Volcanoes can be seen. There are no clouds over Arsia Mons. Olympus Mons can be seen on the upper left on the second image.
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| October 25, 2018
Seeing was a bit unstable today.
This image shows Solis Lacus. There are hints of the 3 Tharsis volcanoes. Note the dark streak on the Ganges.
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| October 22, 2018
I finally got some clearing today. Seeing was
good.
Olympus Mons is the dark spot on the upper right of Mars. The Tharsis volcanoes are suppose to be on the lower right of Olympus Mons but I can't seem to resolve it at this time. Mare Sirenum is prominent. The 3 dark spots of Caralis Fretum is well resolved.
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| October 18, 2018
I finally had some clear skies this
evening. Seeing was good.
Here is an image of Mars with Mare SIrenum. Mare Cimmerium is on the left and one can see Sinus Gomer sticking out. On the upper right edge is the dark smudge of Olympus Mons, the largest Volcano in the Solar System.
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| October 12, 2018
It's amazing as it's already 1 week and there
are no tropical systems in the Western Pacific. Seeing was good today.
I changed some of image processing setting for this run.
These images show the same CM as yesterday. There are some thin morning clouds at Hellas. The huge Martian volcano Elysium Mons is distinct on the upper right.
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| October 11, 2018
Seeing was good today.
Syrtis Minor and Mare Tyrrhenum is on the left while Mare Cimmerium is on the right. Sinus Gomer is clearly resolved as it sticks out like two finger from Mare Cimmerium. There are some light clouds over Hellas on the lower left. Elysium Mons can be seen on the upper right.
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| October 10, 2018
We had some good conditions today.
Surprisingly, here are no tropical systems on the West Pacific region.
Seeing was good today.
These images show Syrtis Major. Hellas is clear of clouds! Hellas happens to be the largest VISIBLE impact basin in the Solar System. Mare Tyrrhenum and Syrtis Minor are well resolved. The Mitchel Mountains can be seen detached from the south pole.
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| October 8, 2018
Condition was variable today with periods of
good seeing.
Syrtis Major and Hellas are prominent on these images. Note the yellowish dust storm surrounding the south pole.
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| October 7, 2018
I had two imaging runs today. My first
run was right after sunset, but seeing was a bit unstable. We went out for
a family get together and made my second run after this. Seeing was much
better.
Syrtis Major is prominent on these images. Sinus Gomer can be seen on the right side of the first image. Note some albedo features in Hellas.
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| September 29,
2018
The sky was mostly overcast today.
Because of the two tropical systems NE of my location we were having WSW winds
which is suppose to be the worst winds here as it is from the mountains.
So I was surprised that the sky cleared early this evening and that seeing was
actually quite stable today!
Chryse is on the left side while Sinus Meridiani/ Sinus Sabaeus are on the right. Sinus Meridiani looks very clear now. Unfortunately, the Opportunity rover still hasn't phone home yet. The South Pole is still prominent.
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| September 23, 2018 After a month of rain and some tropical cyclones, I finally got a clearing. Seeing was average. The dust storm on Mars has cleared up. Chryse is prominent on these images. Ganges is even distinct. The south polar cap is overexposed. Is the black ring above the South polar cap the Lowell crater?
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| August 22, 2018 The monsoon has been very bad here. I was fortunate to get some better conditions today. Mars seems to be coming back at least in IR. The familiar albedo features can now be seen. Chryse is on the left and Sinus Meridiani is on the right. Note the blue polar hood on the north pole.
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| August 12, 2018 It has been close to a month since my last image. Monsoon here has been terrible due to multiple tropical cyclones. I had a lucky break tonight. Seeing was poor though and transparency was variable. The dust storm seem to have subsided in this region. Solis Lacus is distinct. What is surprising is the the Tharsis Volcanoes are difficult to see. Olympus Mons is barely visible as a dark smudge on the upper left in the color image.
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| July 14, 2018 The monsoon is still going strong here making imaging a challenge. Transparency was poor and I had to image through clouds. Seeing was also a challenge. Mars is still engulfed in dust. The albedo features are still a challenge to recognize. However, Valles Marineris is prominent in the center of the CM due to bright dust! The three Tharsis volcanoes can be seen rising on the left. Note the bright spot on Solis Lacus. The south polar caps is yellowish due to dust. Note the bluish protrusion on the left of the south polar cap. Are these high altitude clouds?
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| July 10, 2018 Typhoon Maria has enhanced the monsoon here. I finally got some clearing tonight. The dust storm is still going very strong! The dark spot on the upper left is Olympus Mons. The three Tharsis Volcanoes are also sticking out of the dust storm. Note the bright streak on the right of the CM. This is the dust which shows a perfect outline of Valles Marineris! This is one of the largest canyon of the solar system. The south pole is has been invaded by dust.
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| July 1, 2018 Seeing was variable today. The dust storm is still going strong in this region. Mare Cimmerium with Sinus Gomer is on the left. Mare Sirenum is on the CM. But one could hardly discern anything here.
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| June 26, 2018 Excellent conditions today. Unfortunately, Mars still hides its prominent features with a global dust storm! Mare Cimmerium is suppose to be at the CM but one could hardly see it! Sinus Gomer is very faint but is slowly peeking out of the dust. There is a hint of Elysium in the north.
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| June 24, 2018 Seeing was almost perfect today. Unfortunately this is the area which has really been affected by the dust storm. Mare Cimmerium is hardly recognizable due to the dust. Sinus Gomer is faintly visible now as the dust clears up. Hellas is in the lower left and it is very bright due to dust. Syrtis Major is rising on the left. Elysium is still covered with dust.
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| June 23, 2018 Seeing was fair this morning but I had to deal with some clouds and dew. The dust storm seems to be settling down. Syrtis Major is slowly coming out. Sinus Sabeaus is also slowly clearing up. Hellas seems to be still covered with dust. Note the bright clouds close to the south pole. There seems to be a round hole on it. Is this a polar storm?
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| June 15, 2018 Seeing was a bit unstable today. It is 3 weeks before Mars Opposition and the dust storm is still raging! The dust storm has engulfed most major features on Mars. Sinus Sabeaus/Sinus Meridiani should have been prominent at the CM! The familiar Syrtis Major should have been setting on the right. Right now the planet is mostly blank!
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| June 14, 2018 The SW monsoon is at full swing here in Cebu. Seeing was very unstable. Weather has been so bad here that I had a late start with Mars. I was a bit perplexed when I saw Mars. I could hardly recognize it! The dust storm has covered Sinus Meridiani where the Mars Rover Opportunity is located. Unfortunately, NASA has lost contact with this rover. I hope the rover will survive this storm! This dust storm seems to be moving towards Chryse! Note the bright clouds over Mare Australe.
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© Christopher Go 2014
