Mars 2007 Opposition.

This years Mars opposition (when Mars is opposite the Sun in the sky) occurs on the 24th of December 2007. Due to the excentricity of Mars' orbit the closest approach is on the 18th of December when it is 88.42 km distant. The opposition distance of Mars' orbit is significantly further than in the previous few oppositions, however it won't come this close to again until 2016, God willing. For the northern hemisphere the greater distance is offset this year by the planet being much higher in the sky, with a corresponding hope for better seeing conditions (the higher the planet is the less wobbly atmosphere there is to look through - also known a better 'seeing').
Because Mars is so small the window of opportunity to image the planet in any detail is short, about 4 to 5 months every 2 and  a bit years
Below are my attempts to image the planet.

18th September 2007

I was up early enough this morning to see Mars before the sun rose (quite unusual for me). Not a great image, however this is the blander side of Mars, and the planet is very small. Mars: 9.0" diameter

Telescope: 222mm F8. 2x Barlow, 75mm extention tube to give F30.
IR Image: RAW modified monochrome ToUcam740 webcam and 685nm+ filter.
RGB Image: Optimized standard ToUcam740 webcam and Baader IR-UV block filter.

5th October 2007

Good early morning seeing (about 7am) gave reasonable detail on such a small disc.
Mars: 10.0" diameter

Telescope: 222mm F8. 2x Barlow, 75mm extention tube to give F30.
IR Image: RAW modified monochrome ToUcam740 webcam and 685nm+ filter.
RGB Image: Optimized standard ToUcam740 webcam and Baader IR-UV block filter.

11th November 2007

Good seeing this night gave a nice detailed image. Some nice hazes are visible over the Hellas basin area. Size: 13.2" diameter

Telescope: 222mm F8. 2x Barlow, 75mm extention tube to give F30.
IR Image: RAW modified monochrome ToUcam740 webcam and 742nm+ filter.
RGB Image: Optimized standard ToUcam740 webcam and Baader IR-UV block filter.

14th November 2007

Not so good seeing this night and slightly over exposed too, causing the brightening to the centre of the planet on the IR image. Mars: 13.3" diameter

Telescope: 222mm F8. 2x Barlow, 75mm extention tube to give F30.
IR Image: RAW modified monochrome ToUcam740 webcam and 742nm+ filter.
RGB Image: Optimized standard ToUcam740 webcam and Baader IR-UV block filter.

16th November 2007

It seems than when the conditions are right and Mars is in the right position then, not only is there a man in the Moon but also a man in Mars. It looks like two eyes a nose and a wonky mouth. Mars: 13.8" diameter.
Telescope: 222mm F8. 2x Barlow, 75mm extention tube to give F30.
IR Image: RAW modified monochrome ToUcam740 webcam and 742nm+ filter.
RGB Image: Optimized standard ToUcam740 webcam and Baader IR-UV block filter.

22nd November 2007

Mars: 14.4" diameter

Telescope: 222mm F8. 2x Barlow, 75mm extention tube to give F30.
IR Image: RAW modified monochrome ToUcam740 webcam and 742nm+ filter.
RGB Image: Optimized standard ToUcam740 webcam and Baader IR-UV block filter.

23rd November 2007

Clouds visible over the Massive Olympus Mons shield volcano. Not as obvious as they were in 2005 but there is a slight brightening in the IR image.

Imaging details as before.

3rd December 2007

This first image was taken when Mars was relatively low in the sky, about 35 degrees up. However the IR filter has done a great job of cutting through the seeing to show some good surface detail.
Size: 15.3"

3rd/4th Decmber 2007

Taken just after midnight when the planet was much higher in the sky (approx. 60 degrees). While the IR image hasn't improved much, the RGB image is significantly better. I was also pleased to catch some cloud detail (image right)

9th December 2007

Almost identical view to the 3rd December, Just taken at a different time of the evening. (about 9pm on the 3rd and 1am on the 10th). I messed up the colour balance this night. I usually adjust it before imaging and this time I forgot. Intermittant cloud meant that I rushed to get an image before it was too late
Size: 15.6"

10th December 2007

Some better seeing this evening. The RGB image in the sequence below was taken a little later in the evening when the seeing had improved. The colour in the IR-RGB combined view was supplied by an earlier, inferior RGB image.
Morning and evening hazes are visible in the RGB image, also the North Polar Hood seems to be beginning to break up.

As an experiment I thought I'd try using some different filters. I tried a Purple filter (the idea was to capture hazes) but I think it has a significant IR leak an so shows quite nice surface details. I also used the 807nm+ filter. It seems that the 742nm+ IR pass filter is still the best general purpose filter for Mars.

11th December 2007

Tried loads of filters this night. All three IR filters, a Purple, Green and Red (I don't have a Blue filter).
The differences between the images are subtle and again I think the Purple filter leaks IR. The Green filter shows more of the North Polar Hood than any of the other monochrome images.
The RGB image shows some nice morning and evening hazes again.
To the left is another attempt to image Mars' moons: Phobos and Deimos. This time I was very successful. Mouse over the image to see the moons labelled.

13th October 2007

Just enough time tonight to capture an IR image and an RGB image before the clouds rolled in. I thought I had ages until the weather front started creeping up on me from the west. In the end I had just enough time for two six minute AVI movies to process.
Telescope: 222mm F8. 2x Barlow, 75mm extention tube to give F30.
IR Image: RAW modified monochrome ToUcam740 webcam and 742nm+ filter.
RGB Image: Optimized standard ToUcam740 webcam and Baader IR-UV block filter.

16th December 2007

The seeing was poor, despite the clear skies.
So for a change I though I would concentrate on imaging the moons of Mars which were well placed. I made an attempt to image the moons through the 2 xBarlow, which on my scope gives a F ratio of about F20. With very heavy processing in Registax I managed to bring out the moons (left). I also made an image at F8 (Newtonian focus) to confirm the image (Right).

The weird diffraction pattern is due to a hand curved secondary spider.

20th December 2007

I made a couple of attempts to image Mars this evening. Once earlier in the evening and another towards midnight. The later session finished early due to the clouds rolling in. This was the last chance I got to view Mars in 2007 as the rest of 2007 was totally clouded out. Size: 15.9"

5th January 2008
After more than two weeks: clear skies at last! Not the best conditions but I managed a few images between the clouds. The animation to the right shows the rotation of the planet over the period of an hour. Animations like this are good for seeing what features are real and what are not. After two plus weeks the planet is notably smaller in size (15.1").

To the left is the image from 21:45UT.

Mouse over the left-most of the two images to see all the areas labelled together. The most prominent feature at the lower centre is Solis Lacus ("The Eye of Mars").
A morning cloud is also vaguely visible above the giant shield volcano Olympus Mons. Probably more visible in the animation above.

7th January 2008

Not a great evening for imaging. The seeing was bad, it was a little windy and there were clouds to avoid.
I got the usual images - one IR at 742nm and longer wavelength with the Monochrome ToUcam, and an RGB image using the colour ToUcam.

10th January 2008

Despite a poor forcast we got clear skies tonight. I used the monochrome ToUcam and three different IR filters 685nm, 742nm and 807nm. I thought I would retry the Purple filter but this time stacked with an IR blocking filter. This time I just got clouds. Interestingly it also revealed a developing south polar hood of cloud. I combined it with the RGB image  to bring out the cloud structure more (right). I created two new layers, one blue and one monochrome, with 50% transparency and 'multiply' blend in Serif Photoplus10.