Mars

[Ed in Houston]

 

Here is what Mars looks like from my backyard in Houston.

 

Ed in Houston

 

[Palmarum]

Very nice.

Best time to get to Mars, being as close as it is. Seems the MCRN has been busy. I've always wanted to get a SLR camera attachment adapter for my telescope, but could never find one that wasn't so expensive. Not that I could get that image with mine anyway, but it would be fun.

Ryan

[sandgroper]

What a fantastic photo!

[Darold Petty]

OK, Yes I am computer illiterate, but I can't see the image.  Desktop PC, Windows 10, Chrome, I put the cursor over the link, nothing.  Please advise, thanks

[Ed in Houston]

On 10/18/2020 at 9:19 AM, Darold Petty said:

OK, Yes I am computer illiterate, but I can't see the image.  Desktop PC, Windows 10, Chrome, I put the cursor over the link, nothing.  Please advise, thanks

Try these links Darold.

 

Here are the best images of Mars from October 1st to October 21st. Closest approach to the Earth was on October 6th.

 

 

http://www.egrafton.com/mars_10_01_20.jpg

 

http://www.egrafton.com/mars_10_03_20.JPG

 

http://www.egrafton.com/mars_10_04_20.jpg

 

http://www.egrafton.com/mars_10_06_20.JPG

 

http://www.egrafton.com/mars_10_12_20.JPG

 

http://www.egrafton.com/mars_10_14_20.JPG

 

http://www.egrafton.com/mars_10_21_20.JPG

 

Ed in Houston

 

[Darold Petty]

Ed;  I used to go backpacking in the High Sierra between 11,000 and 13,000 feet elevation, no light pollution.  One year I was in the mountains when there was no moonlight and Mars was at its closest possible distance from Earth.  Perhaps it was just my over-active imagination, but I swear I could detect the reddish tint with my naked vision!

  Thanks for the links, I enjoyed them.  

[Sr. Califas]

Those pictures are wonderful. And I was enjoying the show that Mars has been putting on just with the naked eye. Thank you so much for sharing. Can you please post a link with information on the equipment that you used for those pictures?  

[Ed in Houston]

On 11/5/2020 at 9:12 PM, Sr. Califas said:

Those pictures are wonderful. And I was enjoying the show that Mars has been putting on just with the naked eye. Thank you so much for sharing. Can you please post a link with information on the equipment that you used for those pictures?  

I use a Celestron 14 inch diameter telescope that is housed in my backyard shed that has a roof that rolls off.

 

 

http://www.company7.com/celestron/products/sch13.html

The scope is in the background, I am on the left and Don Parker on the right.

Besides Mars, Jupiter an Saturn are interesting also.

 

 

Currently I use this video cam to image the planets.

https://astronomy-imaging-camera.com/product/asi290mm

Ed in Houston

 

 

 

 

[Stevetoad]

Great stuff Ed. I have  an 8 inch scg. Im too lazy to learn how to stack so im stuck with single images for now. 

[SHEP]

We were camping in Yellowstone, up in the northern part, and, Mars is definitely pink, to the bare eye, on a moonless night.   

I will go on a bit about Yellowstone, if you are interested.  There were a few owls hunting hundreds of tiny,  little field mice at night. Two drowned in two gallon water jug,  they crawled in, when we accidently left the top off, and couldn't get out.  Another evening, around the campfire, one mouse ran into the dog's crate, the crate was hopping up and down, and, it finally ran out.  Also, at sunset,  as we walked  back from a trail that was close to Soda Creek,  right into a badger homestead of holes, which we had seen in many places.  Sudddenly,  a group of  about five badgers popped their heads out, one by one, around sunset. We didn't stick around too long , as there was a backpack camp closed, not too far away, that the grizzlies tore up,  a few weeks before, and, was still closed because of bear sign.   For the following five years,  a herd of  buffalo occupied "badger camp" and we couldn't go back. 

A lot of people  have very expensive, high powered scopes  along the road,  and, some people, occasionally, invite you to share the views.  They are out early a.m. and late.  One time, we just missed a mother wolf carrying her pup across the shallow river in the Lamar Valley, which we would have never seen from our bikes.  The other time, it was a tribe of about 12-15 wolves, and, most had coats that were all white, which we saw while we were on our bikes climbing up over Dunraven Pass, in an area where hiking is forbidden.   Again,  the wildlife are truly wild, and are only visible with these expensive 'scopes'.  It may not look like it, but, this place is still wild.  We hiked the Thunderer,  a saddle with supposed views, with our bear spray at our sides.  We finally got to the  top, and, thirty minutes later, we turned around, and, only 30' feet away, was a huge, bear splat, full of berries across the trail.  He, or she was close enough to observe us, and, we never saw, or, heard a thing, and, fortunately, no cubs were involved.  We were talking, and, obviously, that was not a deterrent.  

I did have a head on, run in with a grizzly in Denali Park in Alaska at night, many years before, but, fortunately, we both forgot the manual, on how to deal with these encounters. The bear ran off, after I screamed.  I was hiking down the road before dark, and, noticed it was getting dark, and, saw  the camp a tiny, dot of light, seemingly, far away.  So, I start to run, and, forgot to sing or make noise, and, the bear just ran across the road.  We were inches apart, and, I was very, very lucky.  Cecile.  

[Darold Petty]

Ed in Houston;   please post some images of the Dec. 21st conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn,  thanks ! 

https://www.nasa.gov/feature/the-great-conjunction-of-jupiter-and-saturn

 

[jimmyt]

14 hours ago, Darold Petty said:

Ed in Houston;   please post some images of the Dec. 21st conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn,  thanks ! 

https://www.nasa.gov/feature/the-great-conjunction-of-jupiter-and-saturn

 

Yes,  Please!  I have been following the Conjunction for about a week now.  It is awesome to see it with the naked eye!  Imagine what it would look like through a 14” telescope! 

[Ed in Houston]

It was cloudy at my place but here is an image made by Damian Peach. He was in S. America at the time.

In order to capture both planets in the same field of view, the magnification has to be necessarily low.

Ed in Houston

[Darold Petty]

Thank you, Ed  !