Mars close opposition!

• see also:
  • astronomy index and links
  • Mars main page
  • Gary's other pics:
    • Halley's comet 1986
    • the moon Sept 2003: low power / medium power 1 / medium power 2
    • Mars attacks our Moon!

Here are some pics I have taken of the Mars opposition when Mars was the closest it has been to earth in approx. 70,000 years!

For wide angle views taken with 15 second guided Canon digital camera, click on images for larger view:

Using 7mm wide angle view	Using 21mm wide angle view

Here are my close up pics taken through a 10" Newtonian reflector using a Canon digital camera at 1/500th sec exposure:

27/8/2003 using 7.5mm eyepiece	28/8/2003 using 10mm eyepiece with 2x barlow lens	7/9/2003 using 10mm eyepiece with 2x barlow lens with yellow filter

Note that the definition is not as clear as it could be due to the atmospheric effects in Melbourne causing poor "seeing"