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The 2005 Opposition
As you know, Mars again got very close to Earth in 2005 but not as close as in 2003 when it attained a maximumn apparent diameter of 25 arc seconds. This time it will only attain 20 arc seconds but will be much higher in the sky, so still be of a good size in most amateur telescopes, on the 30th October and get to Opposition a few days later. Mars will not be this big for another 13 years! So you will have to wait until 2018 if you miss it this time!
So I am documenting the event with the aid of the 14" Meade SCT at the Doncaster Astronomical Society's observatory at Austerfield Field Study Center, Doncaster.
Mars Facts
Average Distance from the Sun: 227,936,640 km / 141,633,260 miles / 1.5 A.U.
Equatorial Radius: 3,397 km / 2,111 miles
Equatorial Circumference: 21,344 km / 13,263 miles
All photos are created from stacked AVI frames captured with a Philips Toucam Pro PCVC740K webcam placed at prime focus of the scope. Usually I will capture anything from 1 to 2 minutes of webcam images. Then the AVI-file will have each frame aligned and stacked using Cor Berrevoet's excellant Registax. Finally, I will finish the processing using Photoshop where liberal use is made of various filters.
Below are the images that I have captured so far....If you click on an image then a larger picture will be displayed along with telescope/planet details.
---Updated 12/02/2006---
All images are Copyright © 2005-2006 John Cox
