Re: Mars Revisted

AnthonyR.081225

Mars Slooh image taken on the evening of the 22nd of January. Using Registax to increase surface detail.

ColinD.061117

'Image of Mars taken last evening (Jan 22 @ 23:10 UTC). Polar cap with some surface detail visible. Used Registax to tweak image a bit.'

Excellent work Anthony.

I have done a comparison with the Mars Previewer II software using your date and time above.
It compares quite well to the image snapped. The North Polar cap is obviously larger (seasonal change) and the outlines of the dark markings show differently, as would be expected a few decades later, compared to the older ALPO maps of Mars used in the software.
Orographic clouds can possibly be seen in the Slooh image, forming above the volcanoes (white spots upper left in the software image of Mars).

The Mars Previewer II can be downloaded from
http://www.skyandtelescope.com/resources/software/3304921.html

Change the date & time and press 'Go'. You can mouse over the surface features and the position & name of the feature is given in the side panel.

AnthonyR.081225

Many thanks as I did not even know that the Mars Previewer software even existed. I will check it out asap!

The best,

Tony

MalcolmB.080215 · Member Joined: 16 Feb 2008 Posts: 183

What a nice little piece of software! Thank you, Colin!

In case anyone else needs to know, Mars Previewer installs and runs just fine on Linux under Crossover Wine.

Mac

AnthonyR.081225

Colin, here is my first attempt at using your Mars Previewer software. It makes identifying the surface detail so easy. Brilliant! I wish the planet image was better...but the skies at the time of the imaging were not the best. Below the polar cap...the large mass is Niliacus Lacus...the sharp point jutting out is Nilokeras...the dark area below is Mare Erythraeum. This Slooh image of Mars was taken on the 25th of January at 22:15 UTC