I had a tremendous session on Mars on the 29th of August. I made a total of 9 runs of RGB & IR at 4 mins per channel, so 2 hrs 40 mins of imaging and fortunately the seeing remained excellent the whole time.

I split the data to produce 3 images. I used the IR as Luminance at a 50% inclusion and aside from some colour balance issues created, which I had to adjust for, this gave a tremendous lift to the definition of surface features.

The first LRGB image shows the Vallis Marineris right on the terminator rotating out of view. Olympus Mons and the diamond shaped landscape around it, as well as the Tharsis shield volcanoes are well resolved. Ascraeus Mons the most northerly of the Tharsis Montes is also closest to the terminator and its shaded p side flank can be clearly seen.

Solis Lacus is further south but not quite as close to the terminator. There seems to be some high ground to its north casting a shadow.

The 2nd RGB image with a timestamp 54 mins later, sees Olympus Mons now close to the Central Meridian and the Tharsis Montes closer to the terminator. Ascraeus Mons' shadow is noticeably darker. Also now becoming more noticeable is the white cloud over Arsia Mons, the most southerly of the three shield volcanoes in a row. It is clearer again by the 3rd RGB image, which also has a timestamp 54 mins later.

The cloud feature above Arsia Mons is the Arsia Mons Elongated Cloud (AMEC). The cloud seems to have a definite linearity in the image. This is well seen in the Blue image from the third RGB run. It can also bee seen in the Red and Green images.

This montage makes it easier to see that the cloud becomes more apparent as Arsia Mons rotates towards the terminator, perhaps due to the angle of the Sun.

Version B is an animation of 5 images across this timeframe. Note tha the SPC is offset and it orbits around the actual polar axis.

A most interesting planet.