Imaging Mars after a tough week was a nice change of pace. Historic snow storms brought an unusually long and intense cold snap to Texas, causing much of the state to fall into rolling blackouts for days. We lost home internet access for 5 days and the cell signal became too weak for a reliable connection. Snow was brought inside to melt in case the local water supply ran dry. The air outside was a little colder than normal and small patches of snow were on the ground tonight. Seeing was good enough to get an acceptable image with enough data.

Mars passed vernal equinox two weeks ago, bringing spring to the northern hemisphere and autumn to the south. The planet is now 200 million kilometers away and just over a fourth of the angular diameter it was at opposition in October. Valles Marineris can be seen near the center of the disk.

These images were taken less than two days after Perseverance touched down on the red planet. The landing site was facing away from us when taking these images.