Mars, August 4, 2005:  This is a stack of 3200 frames - TouCam/C14/F36.

 

Mars, July 27, 2005:  The polar cap is tiny in this image.  This is partly because of melting and partly because a major portion of the cap has rotated out of view to the other side of the planet.  This is a stack of 3000 frames - TouCam/C14/F36.

 

Mars, July 26, 2005:  It was a very hot and humid morning when this image was taken with the usual instability.  Mars is growing ever so slightly, approaching 11 arc seconds now.  Mare Cimmerium dominates the center of the planet with Mare Sirenum gradually coming into view.  This is a stack of 3000 frames - TouCam/C14/F36.

 

Mars, July 24, 2005:  No clouds this morning, but the usual unsteady atmosphere overhead.  Seeing was probably 3-4/10.  The tiny part of the south polar cap that has separated is called "Mountains of Mitchell".  It's more clearly defined in the July 22nd image.  Note the reduced size of the polar cap in this image compared to July 22nd. This is a stack of 3500 frames - TouCam/C14/F36.

 

Mars, July 22, 2005:  As with the July 21st image, the conditions this morning were somewhat less than favorable.  Bands of thin clouds made imaging difficult and the stability was poor.  There is some interesting detail at the south polar cap (SPC) and the Hellas region is still very bright.  There is some debate on the ALPO group now as to whether or not we are seeing a dust storm. This is a stack of 2000 frames - TouCam/C14/F36.

 

Mars, July 21, 2005:  The skies were not very stable this morning, but steady enough to see some detail on the red planet.  Mare Cimmerium and Mare Tyrrhenum are the main central features, and the Hellas region to the upper right (south west) is rather bright, possibly due to dust.  This is a stack of 3600 frames - TouCam/C14/F36.

 

Mars, July 17, 2005: This image was taken under less than favorable conditions.  The humidity was extremely high and the stability was relatively poor, in fact, fog began to roll in just before sunrise.  The image does show some interesting features though, including Syrtis Major, Tritonis Sinus, Mare Tyrrhenum and the Hellas area.  The edge of the south polar cap also shows some detail, including a few interesting dark areas.  This is a stack of 3500 frames - TouCam/C14/F27.

 

Mars, July 13, 2005: "As the Planet Turns" Mars advances eastward a little bit each Earth day.  Now the Hellas feature is clearly visible as Sinus Meridiani moves farther west.  Mars is still showing some interesting detail in the south polar cap as it begins to melt in the southern Martian spring.  This is a stack of 3000 frames - TouCam/C14/F27.

 

Mars, July 9, 2005: This image and the image below were taken just a few minutes apart.  As with the July 8th image, these also show some interesting detail on the south polar cap.  Stability was somewhat worse than July 8 when these were taken.

 

Mars, July 9, 2005: Mars image number 2 for July 9th.

 

 

 

Moon, Mercury, Venus, July 8, 2005: Another beautiful grouping of the crescent Moon, Venus and Mercury. The image was taken with a Canon 300D and a zoom lens set to about 100mm from Alpharetta, GA.

 

 

Mars, July 8, 2005: This image of Mars shows some interesting detail on the South Polar Cap, with a small portion of the cap broken away.  Mars was 9.7" across and shows Sinus Meridiani near the central meridian of 353.03.  This is a stack of 3800 frames taken with the C14 using the TouCam Pro.

 

Moon, Mercury, Venus, July 7, 2005: An hours old crescent Moon (phase 2.32%), Mercury and Venus created a spectacular sunset from Alpharetta, GA July 7th.  Weather didn't permit observation of the tight grouping of Mercury, Venus and Saturn a few days earlier, but this beautiful grouping more than maked up for it.  The image was taken with a Canon 300D with a 300mm zoom lens set at about 150mm.

 

Mars, July 2, 2005: Ah, the Mars I know and love is back.  At last, some noticeable features.  The planet is growing rapidly in apparent size and brightness (now at 9.39" and -0.06 mag).  In this image you can see a bit of North polar hood and perhaps some clouds or dust just below the polar cap.  Solis Lacus is visible near the right limb and the main dark area near the center is Mare Erythraeum.  The central meridian in this image is 39.59.  This is a stack of 3900 frames, stability was about 7/10 through the C14. 

 

Mars, July 2, 2005: This is the July 2nd image with a RED/GREEN/BLUE breakout and text in a standard format. 
 

 

 

Mars, May 27, 2005: This is a stack of 1500 images using a TouCam Pro mounted on the C14.  The image was taken at 05:40 EDT.  The south polar cap is visible, with some surface detail, stability was poor at 3/10.  Mars has grown in size and brightness since last month.  The planet was 7.7 arcseconds across.

 

A different look at Jupiter: Different orientations of planetary images can make it easier to notice certain features.  This is a view of the same May 18th image showing how different images can appear, simply by rotating 180 degrees.

 

Jupiter May 18, 2005: This is a mosaic of 3 images taken about 15 minutes apart.  Festoons, barges, white ovals, the Great Red Spot, you name a Jovian feature and you can find it on these images.  The images were taken with a TouCam Pro mounted on the C14.  Stability was 6 or 7/10.  The image was processed using RegiStax and PhotoShop.

 

Mars is BACK!, April 17, 2005: This is a stack of 1300 images using a TouCam Pro mounted on the C14.  The image was taken at 06:45 EDT, just a few minutes before sunrise.  The south polar cap is visible, but that's about it, stability was poor at 3/10.  Mars was only 6.2 arcseconds across.  This is my first attempt at Mars this apparition.

 

The Crescent of Mercury, March 18, 2005: This is a stack of 1000 images using a TouCam Pro mounted on the C14.  The image was taken at 18:43 EST and was only about 15 degrees above the western horizon.

 

Saturn, February 25, 2005:  This is a stack of the best of 2000 images out of 4000 extracted from an AVI file taken with a TouCam Pro mounted on the C14.

 

 

Comet MachHolz & M45, January 8, 2005:  This image was taken with a Canon 300D digital SLR with telephoto lens, mounted piggy-back on a telescope for guiding from the Charlie Elliott observing field.  This is a stack of 11 frames.

 

 

Third Quarter Moon, October 5, 2004:  This image was taken with a Canon 300D digital SLR and a C14 Schmidt Cassegrain telescope.  It is a mosaic of 8 frames and each frame is a stack of 10 individual exposures taken at ISO 3200.

 

 

Total Lunar Eclipse, October 27, 2004:  The image was taken with a Canon 300D digital SLR and a 5" refracting telescope.  Each image is a stack of several exposures to reduce noise.  The images were then aligned in a mosaic to show the orientation of Earth's shadow.

 

Saturn, November 11, 2003:  This is one of many images of Saturn taken in 2003.  The image was taken with an SBIG ST7E CCD camera mounted on a C14 Schmidt Cassegrain telescope.  RGB color combining was done in CCDSoft.  See image caption for more details.

 

Mars, August 9, 2003:  This is one of thousands of images taken of the red planet during the opposition of 2003.  The ST7E CCD camera was used on a C14.  See image caption for more details.

 

Eagle Nebula M16, August 11, 2002:  This image was taken with an inexpensive 5" short focus achromatic refractor.  The ST7E CCD camera was used with color filter wheel.  To prevent the optics from causing violet halos in the image, the camera was focused carefully after each filter selection.  Color combining was done in CCDSoft and final image processing was done with PhotoShop.  The final image is a stack of 15 individual images, each exposed for 90 seconds.  The refractor was guided by an LX200.

 

Orion Nebula M42, February 21, 2004:  This is my first attempt at deep sky imaging with a digital SLR.  I used a Canon 300D mounted on a TMB 115 refractor.  The image is a bit grainy.  This is a stack of 3 images with a total exposure time of 9 minutes at ISO1600.

 

Pleiades M45, February 21, 2004:  This is my second deep sky image with a digital SLR.  The Canon 300D was used again on the TMB 115 refractor.  Three 5 minute exposures were stacked for a 15 minute total exposure time at ISO1600.