Contains:  Solar system body or event
Tiny early Mars images for the 2024 approach, LacailleOz

Tiny early Mars images for the 2024 approach

Acquisition type: Lucky imaging
Tiny early Mars images for the 2024 approach, LacailleOz

Tiny early Mars images for the 2024 approach

Acquisition type: Lucky imaging

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Description

I have been getting out early into the crisp autumn mornings to image Mars after it clears the trees here, and before the dawn.  I have been surprised by the amount of detail I have bee nable to extract despite its small size (about 4.6 arcsecs), and low altitude (about 30 º).  I use an IR610 image as a luminosity layer, which brings a bit of definition to the surface features.

For us in southern Australia, this coming opposition (Jan 2025) will max out at about 30 degrees and only about 14 arcsecs, so I am prepared for disappointment!  However, because it is an aphelic opposition, close to the southern winter solstice, there is apparently a good chance of imaging white clouds this opposition.

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Tiny early Mars images for the 2024 approach, LacailleOz